Big Brother
by Elevatie
Summary: Arthur and Merlin become contestants on the first series of Big Brother UK. In a divided house, they find themselves inexplicably drawn to one another. Sparks fly, as they attempt to understand their feelings and struggle to reach the final prize.
1. Day One

**This story is based off Season 11 of the US version of Big Brother. For those of you in the UK, you should know that the US version of the TV show is vastly different from the one we see on our own screens. Thus, the rules of the game will be explained as we go along in the story. I also recommend, if anyone's planning on following the story, to attempt to watch the Season it's based off, seeing as a good number of the challenges will be the same. It'll be easier for you to visualise. That said, it isn't going to be identical. Now, I'm not stupid enough to directly link you, however if you search the series somewhere sensible, you'll be able to find it fairly easily.**

**I thoroughly enjoyed writing this, it's so much fun to have the characters all in one place. The actual series is very fun to watch too, and (for those of you that have watched in already) Jeff and Jordan were definitely my favourites. This is my first Merthur story that I've uploaded, but I have a few more coming for anyone that's interested.  
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**In addition, though most of the series is already planned, the winner of the competition has not been picked yet. Thus, I would like to ask anyone who enjoyed to story to vote on who they'd like to win. Not necessarily based on this chapter alone, just keep it in mind as the series progresses.**

**Finally, anyone wondering why 'Love From, Anonymous' has been deleted, should be pleased to know that a re-vamped version of the series will be uploaded in due course.**

**I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Big Brother!**

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><p>He was quivering with excitement, the prospect of what was about to happen killing him inside, as he stood there impatiently. He couldn't wait any longer, why couldn't this all be over already? He shivered, it was dark, but he knew that any second now everything would be happening at once. Really, he should be relishing this moment of peace for, in the weeks to come; peace would be a rare thing to come by. Still, he couldn't help find himself wishing they'd get the cameras rolling already.<p>

He looked slyly to his left and then right, squinting his eyes to see through the convenient poor lighting. '_So this is my competition._' He thought with a smirk for a split second.

And then his vision was flooded with light and he was being pushed by various technicians through a corridor which he knew could only lead to one place. Following behind the rest of the contestants, he clutched his suitcase tightly and entered onto the stage.

"Welcome houseguests!" The presenter called to them as they formed a row of lines. She was a short blonde thing, with pale blue eyes and painfully obvious fake breasts. She smiled sweetly with her big, red, silicon-filled lips. "Take a look around you!"

Truthfully, Merlin probably should've looked at the other contestants first, but instead he found himself checking out the set he'd just walked onto. He'd entered through a side door with the rest of his competition and they were now standing on a semi-circular stage facing a large audience, sitting on tiered seats. There were at least three cameras dotted around the set, probably a few more that he couldn't see too. However, he soon scolded himself and turned to check out the people around him as he was supposed to.

It was the first time they'd seen each other in proper lighting, and so the rest of them had happily taken the perky presenter's offer to judge each other. They looked around at each other, not bothering to be subtle about it, with some smirking and giggling thrown in the mix too. The live audience was getting pretty loud too, wolf whistling and yelling out at some of the more attractive players. Among them was a dark haired young man with a little too much facial hair for his age, who was winking and waving at the girls in the crowd rather than checking out his rivals. Merlin, on the other hand, was now scrutinising every figure standing next to him before turning his attention to the large door behind them leading to their new house. He grinned, this was too exciting.

"Had a good look?" The perky presenter shouted. "'Cause these are the people you'll be living with for the next nine weeks!"

The crowd gave a big cheer to that statement. '_God,_' Merlin thought. '_So this is what it feel like to be a zoo animal_.'

"Okay, okay!" The blonde calmed the crowd. "The first four people entering the Big Brother house are..."

Merlin sighed inwardly as they started the drum roll; he knew they'd do this. Having them go in separate groups, letting others pick their beds before the rest of them, it was sure to cause some drama. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to go first, but he didn't want a target on his back before they'd even gone into the house, he certainly wasn't _looking _to get on anyone's bad side. On the other hand, all he really needed was a bed and, if he needed to, he'd probably be able to take someone else's bed after they'd been eliminated. Really, it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Percival, Lancelot, Gwen and Merlin, you may now enter the big brother house."

The wash of relief he felt at the sound of his name was soon replaced by nerves, as he eagerly followed his three opponents up the tall staircase that led into their new home.

There wasn't much time to take everything in but, as soon as they entered, he heard many squeals of delight and victorious 'yes's being yelled all over the place by his fellow roommates. They crossed a large open-plan kitchen-living room with a circular dining table almost as soon as they came in and every one of them grinned gleefully as their eyes quickly washed over it all.

Everything was so huge and, had he been given the time, Merlin would have spent another ten minutes just trying to take in the fact that this was _his_. _He _got to live _here_ for _nine weeks_, if everything went to plan that is. Instead, knowing that soon enough another four would be following them, he rushed through a door, into what seemed to be one of the bedrooms.

It was a fairly big room, painted red with velvet drapes and a fluffy carpet. There were three beds and he decided quickly, without hesitation, that it would be good enough. If he ran off to see what else there was it might get taken, besides it was a nicer room than what he had at home. Plopping his suitcase and bags on one of the beds, he wandered off to see the other rooms, still quaking with anticipation.

There were two other rooms, each with four beds in them. One bedroom was done up like a toilet almost, the floors and walls were tiled and the beds all had frames made of steel with plastic mattresses that had to be pumped with air. There were cute blow up animals and soaps strewn around the room too, but it was cold and Merlin knew immediately that he'd made the right decision. The other room was nicer, with creamy patterned walls, wooden floor boards and four low futon-like beds. When he walked in he found that one of the contestants, a large man with very little hair, had already taken a bed in that room. They exchanged quick smiles, unable to hide their excitement, before Merlin slipped out again to check his room.

When he went back to his own room, he found that the other two beds had also been taken. On the bed next to his, a girl with coffee-coloured skin and a massive smile was sat, taking in her new surroundings.

"Hello," he said, pleasantly. It was impossible not to be in a good mood now; he might as well start making connections while everyone else felt good too! "I'm Merlin."

She stood up from her bed and shook his hand. "Gwen, it's nice to meet you."

"You too," He grinned. Turning around to the other bed, a tanned man with dark curly hair was depositing his bags. He smiled at Merlin.

"I'm Lancelot."

Merlin nodded as they shook hands, but there was no more time to exchange any further niceties; they'd have to do that on camera in a minute. The producers rushed them back to the living room to sit and wait for the next four houseguests. The excitement didn't seem to settle down though; somehow the knowledge that his every move was being filmed was creating an unfamiliar buzz in Merlin's head.

A few seconds later, four more contestants walked in, rushed to find a room and then sat down with them. With each new four they swapped quick pleasantries and hugs as they jumped up and down in their glee. The final four followed soon after and eventually they were all sat on two long red couches, parallel to one another. Surprisingly, there was very little drama over the bedroom situation. There were only eleven beds and twelve houseguests, but (unfortunately for the producers) two of the girls agreed to share one of the double beds together, though not without some interesting eyebrow wagging from some of the males in the house.

Merlin reclined back on the sofa. On their right, a TV screen and microphone were set up so they communicate with the presenter when needed. For now, they were told to introduce themselves one by one, as they drank the champagne they were supplied with.

"Ah, well I guess I'll start." said a blonde woman sitting at the end of the couch on the left. She had dark eyes like a hawk and every time Merlin felt her gaze it was as if she could see straight through him. She didn't seem like the kind of person you wanted to have an argument with. Nevertheless, she smiled sweetly and continued. "I'm Morgause, I'm 27 and I work at a bank."

'_Figures,_' Merlin thought, but he couldn't help but think how harmless she looked in that little red dress.

'_Don't be stupid, Merlin,_' He scolded himself. '_No one here is harmless and no one's your friend. You're here to get that money, now listen hard and suss out the competition._'

Sitting next to her was Gwen, the young lady he was now sharing a room with.

"H-hello," She stuttered, eyes flicking from each of her roommates to the floor. She seemed a little timid, but managed to push through her shyness. "My name's Gwen, I'm 28 and I work for a home cleaning service."

He heard her sigh gently in relief as Lancelot took his turn. "Hey guys," he said pleasantly, you couldn't help but smile straight back at him, it was infectious. "I'm Lancelot, I'm 26 and I'm a football coach."

Some of the other guys nodded appreciatively at this. Merlin had never been a huge fan of football, wasn't it just a bunch of over-paid buffoons kicking around a ball? Still, he smiled at Lancelot; he had a feeling he'd still be able to get on with this guy.

Next to Lancelot sat a girl who looked equally as shy as Gwen. She smiled weakly to the rest of the group.

"Hi everyone," Her voice was very quiet, and Merlin sensed how everyone leaned in slightly that they might be able to hear her. "My name's Freya, I'm 20 and I'm a university student."

No one seemed to think much of her; to be fair she seemed like a pretty weak competitor. She was pale, unnaturally so, and her bony figure didn't suggest that she'd be much competition when it came to physical challenges. Then again, Merlin was exactly the same.

"I guess it's my turn," the next man started, clapping his hands together confidently. "I'm Leon, I'm 32, but don't kick me out 'cause I'm old," Everyone laughed at that. "And I work in computing."

Then they came to the last person on that couch: a pretty blonde girl with wide eyes and a pouty mouth. She smiled behind her make-up and perfect hair.

"My name's Vivian, I'm 24. Oh! And I'm single if anyone's looking." She giggled and batted her eyelashes at Lancelot and another blonde male on the same couch as Merlin.

"Okay, me." Merlin recognised the man speaking now as the guy who'd been flirting with the crowd outside. Merlin raised his eyebrows as the other man grinned. "I'm Gwaine, weird name I know; I'm 29 and currently unemployed. So if anyone's got any jobs going..." He looked playfully at his competition as they laughed.

"Hey guys, I'm Elyan. Some of you might have guessed, but I'm actually Gwen's brother." He nodded towards his blushing sister. "I'm 30 and I work as a primary school teacher."

Merlin felt his heart jump as Elyan finished, realising that everyone was suddenly looking to him, his cheeks reddened. It was his turn.

"My name's Merlin, I'm 22 and I'm an artist."

It was over before it had barely begun and now, it was someone else's turn. With a few more deep breaths to calm him down, Merlin turned to the dark-haired woman beside him.

"Bonjour," The woman said jokingly, smiling widely, not hesitating to laugh at her own joke. "I'm Morgana, I'm 26 and I don't work."

There were a few raised eyebrows at that, but they carried on smoothly to the man beside her.

"I'm Percival, I'm 31 and I'm a retired wrestler."

That revelation wasn't exactly surprising; it was obvious from his stature alone if anything. He was tall and broad shouldered, with biceps practically bulging out of his thin shirt. Merlin made a mental note to keep an eye on him; he was going to be one to watch.

Finally they turned to the blonde man at the end of the couch. He had a build much like Percival, but was shorter with less prominent muscles. What really stood out about him, however, were his bright blue eyes. They pierced through each the contestants as he smirked at them and, after just a few moments, Merlin heard Vivian release a dreamy sigh behind him.

"My name's Arthur, I'm 26 and I'm in line to inherit my father's law firm." He purposefully redirected his gaze to the carpeted floor for a few moments; obviously aware of what he was doing to the women of the group judging by the expression on his face. "It's nice to meet you all."

As if on cue, the short silence that followed was broken as the large television screen finally jumped to life.

"Hello houseguests!" The presenter called happily, well, that was what she was paid to do, right?

"Hey!" They shouted back with half her enthusiasm, if that. It still felt quite unnatural to be so permanently perky. Merlin smirked to himself.

'_I'm sure we'll discover some hot tempers while we're in here._'

"Is everyone getting on with their new housemates?" The woman on screen asked, raising an eyebrow.

Shouts of 'oh yeah' and 'sure' were heard along with many other sounds of approval, Merlin grinned. If anyone had taken a disliking to someone they obviously weren't saying anything about it. At least, not yet.

"Well, I have some news for you."

There were a few side glances, if only for a split second, and Merlin, upon catching Gwen's eye for a moment, smiled reassuringly. They'd all expected this; this summer was going to be full of surprises. In the end though, it should all be worth it.

"As you well know, the motto of this show is 'expect the unexpected'," Merlin heard a few grimaces and groans at the presenter's statement, but he just kept his eyes focused on the TV screen.

"I am sure that already you've been judging your peers," There were more than a couple of people who looked guilty at that point, but again Merlin ignored it. "While others of you will have been trying desperately to fit in."

"Not quite unlike being back in school, right?"

There was an almighty groan from the entire group. Various curses flew around as many people frowned and scowled, while others smirked approvingly. Still, the presenter continued with little care for their mainly negative reaction.

"Whether you've been out of school for ten years, or just two," She paused here, perhaps for dramatic effect. "One thing remains the same."

"Cliques rule the school."

At this point, Merlin held his head in his hands. If this was how they were playing then he was screwed, royally fucked if you will. School had been hell on earth for him and that was not an exaggeration of any kind. He thought he'd escaped all that. Sure, cliques still ruled society, but the cliques that ruled society weren't as _stupid _as the ones that had ruled school!

He almost felt like crying, he'd come here for a reason. He _needed _that money, really and truly needed it. Probably for a cause more worthy than the rest of the people there, at the very least. He took a deep breath.

'_It's okay, Merlin,' _He told himself, lifting his head once again. _'Calm down, the game's not over yet. Don't give up until there's no hope left._'

"And this summer," She added. " They're going to rule the game."

'_Well if that's not a death sentence,_' Merlin thought, with weak smile on his face. '_I don't know what is._'

"That's right!" That presenter was far too perky for her own good. "Each of you will be playing the game as part of a familiar clique."

People were shaking their heads and scoffing and shivering and groaning, it seemed that plenty of the others felt similarly to Merlin. He leaned further back into his seat, this truly was a nightmare.

"Now remember, though you may be playing as part of a group, you're all still individuals in the game." She continued. "You will still be nominated and evicted as individuals. However," She paused again.

"It's never been more important to be part of the 'in' crowd." She smiled. "That's because, if one of your team become Head of Household, your entire clique is safe from eviction."

More 'ooh's and 'ah's emitted from the group, but the majority stayed silent, Merlin included. Sure, that was a pretty cool advantage to this sort of set up, but how would that help if he was in a team of lousy contestant that never won HOH?

"Want to know what the cliques are?"

"Yes!" They all sounded much more enthusiastic now, that's for sure. Even now, he still felt a foolish rush of excitement for what was to come. Besides, he was going to be here for at least a week, right?

"Okay, you will all be placed in one of these four groups: the populars, the athletes, the brains or the offbeats." She paused with a playful smirk on her face. "Want to know where you fit in?"

"Yes!"

"Well, you'll have to wait then." Her answer was met by many a moan and groan. "I'll see you guys later!"

Merlin grimaced as the TV switched off and the houseguests burst into conversation.

"Well they didn't put that in the contract," The blonde, who he then recalled was called Arthur, stated bluntly.

Vivian giggled. "Maybe it won't be so bad; after all, if this is anything like school it should be a blast."

"Ugh," Gwen groaned. "Not for me, school was horrible. Everything was based on appearance, plus I wasn't that smart. I can guarantee you right now that I'll be in the 'offbeat' clique."

"Same," Merlin said, beginning to feel a little more comfortable as he realised that he wasn't alone in his disappointment. "What kind of lanky artist is an athlete?"

They laughed appreciatively at his self-deprecating humour.

"Hey Morgana," Leon piped up. "Which clique do you think you'll be in?"

"Well," She smiled dangerously. "I _do _have a first from Cambridge in history, so I'm betting on the Brains."

There were definitely a few 'wow's at that, though many wondered if it was appropriate to be telling everyone that. Better to hide your smarts, then stun 'em, right? Morgana obviously didn't think so. Despite her questionable strategy, Merlin felt attracted to her brash personality.

"Well it's pretty obvious that Percival will be an athlete, right?" Lancelot chipped in, grinning. "How about you, Elyan, do you play any sports?"

"I played football in school; I do a lot of coaching in my spare time too." He shrugged, on the outside he didn't seem that bothered by this new revelation of the game.

"You'll probably be with us then," Percival said gruffly.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Hello houseguests!" And back came the perky blonde, obviously the director had decided they'd collected enough reaction footage for now. They'd probably be called into the diary room soon enough for some comments on the day so far. Merlin shuddered at the thought, he wasn't looking forward to that part.

"Hello!" They shouted back, mustering all the energy left in them.

"Are you ready to find out which clique you belong to?"

"Yes!" Suddenly everyone seemed to sit a little straighter.

"Well, then please make your way out to the back garden, find your name and say hello to your new clique-mates." The smile on her face wasn't genuine or sincere; it was cocky and mockingly superior. She knew something that the rest of them didn't and it was bothering Merlin more with every second that passed. Well, at least now they would find out who they're ready-made friends were. Whoever his clique mates were, Merlin thought, all they'd have was each other for now.

They all rushed to run out into the garden, which they'd been forbidden to enter previously, as they'd obviously been setting it up for something. That something being whatever they were about to do now.

Upon going outside, there was a stereotypical American high school gym set-up. On the right there was a sort of stage set up to look like a gym, but at each of the four corners a tall metal tower stood. They looked like telephone lines almost and together they held up a similar tower lying horizontally, around eight feet above the stage. From the way it looked, Merlin figured as he looked at it for the first time, it was as if this horizontal bar could be lifted up and down too.

On the horizontal structure, all four cliques were labelled with what seemed to be their team colours. In addition, attached to this metal frame were twelve toilet seats hanging a few feet lower than the bar itself, if you wanted you could have held onto them with your feet still on the ground. Each of the toilet seats also had a name labelled in a bold black font. Under these, lying on the stage, were shirts labelling your name and clique. The Populars were a pinky-red colour, the Athletes were blue, the Brains were green and the Offbeats were yellow.

There were many gasps and exclamations of surprise as they entered the garden, to say the least. They'd expected some cool challenges but nothing on this level. The attention to detail was amazing, fantastic even. The whole thing must have costs thousands of pounds to set up and this was just the first one!

Merlin spotted his name fairly quickly, he'd been right in thinking he'd be part of the offbeat clique. Well, it wasn't exactly a surprise. But now he felt a little bit more at ease about it, the people seemed nice enough, enough so to bear potentially nine weeks with them at least and he was happy to see Gwen's name next to his own toilet seat. He waved to her and he quickly slipped on his bright top over his clothes.

"Guess we're working together now, huh?" He said as she approached.

She grinned. "Yeah, let's do this."

He nodded as they high-fived each other.

"Who's our other clique-mate?" She asked, and they both peered at the other toilet seat. The name 'Freya' was written in bold black letters.

He shrugged. "She seemed nice, plus she's in university."

"So?"

"She's probably pretty smart." Gwen laughed at that.

Freya came to join them a few moments later and they exchanged a few reassuring hugs and high fives before checking out the other teams.

On the Popular team were Vivian, Arthur and Lancelot. This came as a bit of a surprise at first, seeing as Lancelot was a football coach, then again he did seem like a popular kind of guy too. On the Athlete's team was Percival, Elyan and Gwaine, no real surprises there, apart from Gwaine, but there would probably be an explanation for than later. On the Brains were Morgana, Morgause and Leon. Which left the Offbeats with Merlin, Gwen and Freya.

To be honest, though their team wasn't made of the strongest or the smartest contestants, Merlin felt pretty good about his group. Neither of the two girls seems brazen or rude, which meant that hopefully they could just fly under the radar for a while and let others make fools of themselves. After all, that was Merlin's only tactic: lay low. Let other people fight over the stupid stuff, stay out of it and just try and win as much as possible. You never know, maybe Gwen and Freya might just manage to surprise him.

"Hello houseguests!" Another television in the corner of the garden greeted them. "It is time for the first Head of Household competition. So let me explain what this means."

"At the beginning of every week, we will conduct a competition to determine a Head of Household or HOH. The HOH gets to live in a premium bedroom with their own bathroom for the week, as well as being completely safe from eviction. In addition, the HOH gets to nominate two people for eviction half way through the week."

All these rules had been explained to the contestants when they'd signed their contracts; this was purely for the public's benefit. Though it did serve to make them think a little more about just who would be seeing this. Merlin wondered for a fleeting moment if his mother might see it, but brushed away the thought quickly.

'_I have to concentrate if I want to think this._' He thought determinedly, turning his focus to the presenter once again.

"Of course, these nominations can be challenged later in the week, but we'll come to that later. All you need to know for now is that the HOH _rules_ and to stay in the game, you want that power. But don't forget! If someone in your team wins the HOH, _all of you _are safe from eviction."

Looking at the two girls either side of him, Merlin grinned. They could do this; there were three of them now, three chances of surviving. They could do this!

"So let me explain this week's HOH competition." The presenter continued. "Some of the most embarrassing moments in school take place in the changing rooms and that's exactly where you are right now. So please, step into your underwear-"

"What?" Many outcries were exchanged at this, what on earth was she talking about? Just a moment later, a pair of large white underwear dropped from above for each of them. There were a few squeals and groans, as many of the pairs fells right onto the heads of the contestants. Merlin was one of the lucky ones, whose quick reflexes served him as he managed to dodge his pair. He laughed as he spotted a rather unhappy looking blonde on the popular team grimace, as he realised exactly what had just dropped onto his spoilt head.

"When you're ready," The presenter's voice broke through the loud reactions of the houseguests. "Please put on your underwear and hold onto your toilet seats.

Gwen and Merlin looked at each other wide-eyed for a second. This was going to be bad, but they still couldn't keep the smiles off their faces. The underwear the presenter spoke of was now elevated by about three feet, thanks to the hands metal bar above them. It seemed that Merlin's calculations had been correct. The girls or, more specifically, Vivian released a high pitched squeal as she stepped into her over-sized white underwear. Merlin rolled his eyes before clutching onto his toilet seat with the rest of the contestants. At this point, at least, their feet were still on the ground, though they really had to stretch to keep a hold onto that shiny white plastic seat.

"Houseguests!" Back came the presenter. "This competition is called 'Big Brother's Welcome Wedgie."

Many of the contestants exchanged glances at this statement, their fate was sealed now. A few of them laughed, but their laughs held no substance and sounded more like cries for help than anything.

" Okay, here's how it works:" She continued. "You better hold onto your toilet seat for dear life! 'Cause, if you let go of it, you are out of the competition. The last houseguest holding on will be the winner and Big Brother UK's first ever Head of Household! Are you ready?"

"Yes!" They answered with the little energy they had left.

"The competition starts... now."

Half a moment later, Merlin felt himself being pulled into the air as his large underwear suddenly weren't so large. This was the first time he'd ever had a wedgie, looking around it was probably the first time _any _of them had a wedgie. It was such an American thing, very stereotypical, though that was probably why they used it after all.

With every second they were being pulled higher into the air, and every second the bottom half of his clothing was reaching further up his behind. His arms were struggling already to hold his weight, but he held on for dear life. It felt like he was being stretched and an uncomfortable stitch was already growing in his side, but he knew he couldn't let go. He heard Gwen hiss a few times at the painful sensation, but Freya was still staying mostly silent. On the other hand, Vivian seemed to be making a huge fuss. Her whimpers and groans could be heard on the other side of the house probably and they'd only been up for a few minutes.

"You okay?" He whispered to Gwen.

"Y-yeah," She managed, smiling weakly to reassure him. Unfortunately, she wasn't so convincing. "I'm fine, we can do this. We've got to do this."

He turned to his left and hurriedly whispered the same to Freya.

She nodded silently and kept holding on as if it were the easiest thing in the world, turning her head back to the centre to stare intently at the grass.

He peered at the competition; the Brains (apart from Leon) didn't seem to be doing too well either, but the Athletes seemed alright. No one would dare say that it was pleasant, but the Athletes could probably hold on a lot longer than he could. Merlin took a few more deep breaths, if this underwear tried to take him any higher he'd probably be split in two. It was rubbing and chaffing and just generally going in places you don't want underwear to go.

"I'm gonna' have some marks after this..." He said quietly and Gwen giggled appreciatively, as much as she could at least, but Vivian's, seemingly constant, whining carried over the faint sound.

"Ar-thur~" Vivian moaned, twisting and turning where she hung. "I can't take this."

"It's only been five minutes, Vivian." Arthur replied soundly, his patience for the girl was surprising.

"But it hurts~" She added, her glossed lips pouting to her now silent clique mate.

"She sounds like a child," Gwen whispered back to Merlin.

Merlin chuckled, trying to concentrate on the picture he had dreamt of the other night, and how he might paint in, rather than concentrating on the pain he was feeling. It hurt, yes, but he was still fairly light and so he had less to hold up than some of the others. If he could just keep gripping onto his seat, he might make it through.

'_But if it looks like you're not going to make it,_' He thought. '_Drop, because you don't want a target on your back this early in the game. Second place isn't worth a thing._'

He looked around again, it had been nearly twenty minutes now, but no one had dropped yet. Vivian and Morgause looked like they were ready to and the athletes were still taking it with silence, but it seemed that no one wanted to be the first to go down. Gwen seemed to be feeling the pain a little more, but Freya was showing no signs of any emotion at all. Maybe at least she'd be able to hold on if he dropped and, if not, being able to hide her feelings that well was sure to come in handy later on.

"Ar-thur~" Merlin's thought process was interrupted by Vivian's complaining yet again. But this time, Arthur wasn't answering. She seemed to be attempting to readjust where her hands were holding the toilet seat and suddenly, with a high pitched scream, he heard her body slam against the well-placed mat beneath them.

"Oh~ Vivian!" The presenter cooed. "You're out of the game."

Vivian scowled at the TV screen and removed herself from the underwear, rubbing her tender hips. She stepped down from the gym set up and went to sit down on the bench they'd supplied for the losers. She lasted only half an hour and yet she got to sit there and watch the rest of them writhe in pain as she drank her lovely cool water. Merlin felt burning jealousy stem in the bottom of his stomach.

He closed his eyes. '_Stay calm, Merlin. The prize you're going for is much greater than anything she could comprehend._'

She spent a while cheering on her clique, but got bored after five minutes and decided to go have a shower and change instead, though she was required to keep her team shirt on afterwards until the competition was over. Just to keep us appearances for the cameras of course. By the time she came back, Morgause was down too.

When forty minutes had passed, the TV turned on again.

"Hello houseguests!"

A few mumbles and mono-syllabic answers greeted her but nothing more.

"Most of you have survived our wedgie." She grinned. "But do you think you can survive the _super_-wedgie?"

Merlin groaned, in too much pain to attempt to hide his true feelings any more. It was absolute torture.

"From now on, at any time you could be subjected to one of Big Brother's super-wedgies, so watch out, houseguests!"

As she finished, Merlin and the rest of the contestants were yanked up a few more feet then down and then up again. All sorts of noises were released during that thirty second pain-fest as their wedgies somehow managed to dig deeper. But just as it was over, Gwen looked at Merlin and managed a weak smile.

"I can't do anymore."

He nodded, a little disappointed. "Okay, we'll hold up a little longer, right Freya?"

Freya nodded.

Gwen smiled appreciatively at the two of them before she dropped and went to join Morgause and Vivian on the bench.

I shan't subject you to the entire competition as the whole thing stretched over two hours and, really, the end is the only important part. Nevertheless, you may as well know in which order the contestants dropped so that you may make your own judgements on the strength of the contestants.

Around twenty minutes after Gwen, Leon dropped, followed closely by Freya who seemed to have been in more pain than she let on. Elyan, who was merely adjusting his position at the time, fell after an hour and ten minutes, much to his displeasure. Morgana, being the last of the brains, dropped just a few moments after Elyan and Merlin a few minutes after that. The two of them had surpassed many people's expectations, especially their own but, despite their great efforts, they just couldn't match the others. In the end, only Lancelot, Gwaine, Arthur and Percival were left: two from the popular clique, two from the athlete clique.

After another super wedgie, this one lasting sixty seconds instead of thirty, Lancelot fell after two hours of non-stop pain, followed by Gwaine. At two hours and twenty minutes, Arthur and Percival were still fighting it out, both determined to win. It was obviously to the rest of the contestants that they were hurting though and a small mistake on Arthur's part caused him to fall eventually. Thus, Percival became the first Head of household!

The tired houseguests, having been forced to stay and watch the majority of the competition, all congratulated their new HOH. It had been fairly obvious who the real competitors would be from the start and Percival, with his big muscles and strong build, was (not surprisingly) going to be a good physical contender.

Arthur didn't seem to take the loss well though, but quickly sobered up when Percival congratulated him on his impressive stamina. He forced a smile.

"Nah, I didn't do that well." He brushed it off effortlessly, bringing a bit of charm back into the game. "But you! I mean, wow. That's some strength you got!"

The pair went off laughing and chatting eagerly about sport and working out. As Merlin watched them walk back into the house together he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You did well, Merlin." Gwen smiled sympathetically. "Really well."

He grinned. "Yeah well, I guess Physical challenges were never going to be our thing anyway."

"I guess not."

With Freya in tow, they went back into the house. Everyone was buzzing with chatter, all eager to make friends with the new jock in power. The Athletes celebrated in the living room with Arthur as the alcohol flowed, while Merlin, Gwen, Morgana and Lancelot sat in the kitchen together.

Just as Merlin sat down, a loud voice spoke over the speakers.

"Would Merlin please come to the diary room."

Merlin groaned and hit his head on the kitchen counter. The others smiled sympathetically to him as he made his way to the formerly locked room, labelled as the 'diary room'.

'_Really, it's just my luck to be called first._' He grimaced.

Opening the door, he quickly made his way down a small corridor: eager to get this over and done with, until he entered the actual room. It was small, no walls, just mirrors, a big swivel chair and a rather intimidating-looking camera.

He bit back his reservations and sat in the chair, recalling the contract he'd signed just a few weeks ago.

'_You will be required to go to a 'diary room' to record your feelings on the days' events and answer questions whenever you are called. Contestants who fail to meet this requirement will be immediately expelled and removed from the Big Brother house._'

"Hello Merlin," He recognised the voice that spoke to him over the speakers, perhaps it was the producer that had interviewed him?

"Hello." He replied, though his answer sounded more like a question than an answer, this was definitely one of the worst parts of the competition. Unfortunately, it really was an obligation.

"We'll make this quick, it's obvious that you're pretty tired, so we'll keep it short and sweet."

He nodded and smiled weakly.

"All we need you to do is give us a quick opinion on your new housemates in general and the HOH competition. Please be honest and remember: none of the others will see this. At least, not until they've been eliminated from the game."

"Okay." He said, fidgeting in his seat. It wasn't exactly comfortable to be seated right in front of a camera. "Well... I guess everyone seems pretty nice right now, but I sort of expected that."

"I'm sharing a room with Gwen and Lancelot, and they both seem genuine enough. Gwen is one of my clique mates too, but I'm fairly sure we would've been friends anyway." He grinned. "Everything's going pretty well."

"As to the HOH competition, I never really should've expected to win. I mean, look at people like Arthur, look at Percival! They were _made _to win challenges like that. Still, I'm pretty proud of how I did; I think I did better than I thought I would."

There was a short silence as he wondered if he should say any more before the voice rang out over speaker again. "That's fine Merlin, thank you very much."

He let out a deep sigh of relief before he got up from the chair and left the room.

"I'm so tired." Merlin exclaimed, slumping back onto the kitchen table where the others were still waiting for him. "I had to wake up at three this morning just to make sure I got here on time."

"Egh, that's gotta' suck." Gwen said sympathetically, frowning at the very thought of having to get up so early.

"Maybe we'll have a day off tomorrow." Morgana suggested, sipping her mug of tea.

"I don't think so," Lancelot cut in. "I think they'll be going all out this week. Y'know, for ratings and stuff."

Suddenly loud chattering filled the kitchen as those in the living room came to join the rest of the house in the kitchen, with Percival leading the way. In their hands were glasses and cups of various types of alcohol, Percival specifically looked as if he might have had a little too much already, as his buddies Elyan and Gwaine held him up with difficulty.

"H-hey," He hiccupped. "H-how about Mer-Merlin?"

Merlin looked up from the floor, he smiled weakly. He really wasn't awake enough to be thrust into the limelight that he saw Percival threatening him with, but if he was going to be dragged in, he had to be pleasant about it. Percival didn't seem like the most stable guy and Merlin was having trouble figuring out how he was going to manage to stay on his good side. They were almost polar opposites but that just wasn't going to cut it in this competition. If he wanted to survive he had to find something.

"I-I didn't think you had it in you." Percival slurred, as he grinned back at Merlin.

"Yeah, well," He replied from his seat at the kitchen counter. "I didn't really have much to hold up."

"Y-you look like a-an anorexic t-t-teenage girl." He barely got the sentence out before he spluttered out his beer in laughter. The houseguests looked at one another, attempting to hide their disgust at this vulgar humour, and a few let out unenthusiastic chuckles to content their HOH.

"I think we should take Mr. HOH to his room now," Gwaine broke the silence with a smirk. "Who wants to see his HOH room?"

This was another huge bonus of being the Head of Household that the presenter hadn't mentioned on screen. Not only did you get to stay in a premium bedroom, but the producers customised it for you by getting in pictures of relatives and friends. In addition, you received a letter from a member of your family or spouse. So when they climbed the spiral staircase up to the HOH room, they were not entirely surprised to be greeted by the blown up picture of Percival's dog.

The room itself was nothing to sneeze at either, with its large bay window and queen-sized bed it was certainly an upgrade from downstairs. Parallel to the bed was a fire place and above it a collection of TVs showing the goings on of the people downstairs. This allowed one to be upstairs relaxing in their room, but still able to see what every houseguest is doing at any time of the day. It was easy to see how the room promoted suspicion, obviously they were hoping for some major drama and maybe even some fist fights in the coming weeks.

Upon seeing the collection of images, including one of his wife, Percival seemed to sober up a bit. The houseguests followed him around as he pointed out his parents and his brother. He recalled a few old stories about them, including some about this days as a wrestler. In fact, they came across a picture of his first fight and there'd been more than a few pleasant remarks about his... interesting hair style. Soon enough, however, they found themselves sitting on the couches provided to listen to his letter.

"It's from my wife," He said, already sounding a little choked up, but maybe that was just the alcohol. "Dearest Percival, if you're reading this then you did something good! You won Head of Household! Of course, I don't quite know what that means, but I'm sure I'll be proud when I see it."

The houseguests laughed as he paused for a second expectantly.

"We're all missing you already, especially your parents and of course Damien." He stopped for a second to clarify. "That's my dog."

"But we're all really proud of the sacrifice you're making for your family and wish you the best in your efforts to win this competition. Don't push yourself too hard and don't be an ass."

Arthur snorted and Percival grinned at him, a risky move but it seemed to have won him some points for being courageous. The line between being genuine and making an ass of yourself was a thin one indeed. Merlin snuck a quite glance at the blonde, was it wrong that he admired how easily he could be himself? Merlin, on the other hand, was analysing every word he said, every movement he made and the message it might put across. That was what you were supposed to do, right? This was how you played the game. Merlin quickly looked away from the brash blonde to listen to Percival.

"You're a strong man, not just physically but emotionally too. Still, don't forget that other people aren't. This game isn't about emotions; it's about strategy. Don't say or do anything you can't take on your conscience because, in the end, you have to be able to sleep at night with what you've done. We want to see you win this game fair and square; we want to see you make our family proud. But above all, Percival, please try your best. I hope this letter has reminded you that you have an entire family behind you, even if we're not there beside you. Stay strong."

He seemed a little teary eyed after reading it and Gwaine gave him a good slap on the back as he wiped his eyes.

"She sounds nice," Merlin said softly, not even knowing if anyone was listening, though it seemed, in the end, that everyone was. "Your wife." He clarified to the house guests.

Percival looked at him, properly looking for the first time. "She is." It was probably the most sincere moment that they had shared so far and Merlin thanked his quick thinking: getting on Percival's good side was essential to staying in the game this week. Perhaps, now, he had found something they could connect over.

Merlin would be lying if he said he'd never thought about getting married, having a wife, some kids, a dog, y'know the whole 'white picket fence' ordeal. The right woman had just never come along, at least, not yet. After all, he was only 22 and understood well that these things don't come around quickly or in the way you expect them to. There were times when his patience began to run out though.

"I'm gonna' go to bed now, Merlin." Gwen said, breaking his train of thought. "You coming?"

"Yeah, sure." He said, moving himself off the couch and following Gwen back downstairs to their own room where Lancelot was already waiting.

They all slipped back to the bathroom to shower and change into something more comfortable before reclining on their beds to chat.

"I'm really dreading this," Gwen admitted, lying back on her bed.

"Why?" Lancelot asked incredulously.

"Because," She answered. "School was hell for me."

"Why?" He repeated once again.

"Let's just say, I wasn't exactly popular and I certainly wasn't intelligent." She sighed. "I never had any boyfriends so the girls called me a lesbian."

"School was just so..." Merlin continued, his story was much the same. "Degrading. Everything was based on the most materialistic, shallow features of life. My school days were some of the worst in my life."

"I don't remember it like that." Lancelot said quietly, obviously fairly stunned by what he was hearing. "I had some good friends in my school days, though I'm not in contact with any of them now. But..." he trailed off for a second.

"I think it just brings out the worst in people."

"Amen to that." Gwen said, pumping a fist in the air from where she lay.

"I guess that's why we've been dragged back there." Merlin mused as he turned off the lamp by his bed, the only source of light left on in the room.

"Night everyone."

"'Night."


	2. Day Two

**I was quite suprised, though I probably shouldn't have been, to hear that a few of you haven't seen Big Brother before. The truth is, no matter which country's version you watch, it's a show that promotes dishonesty and greed (though, from my perspective, the US version more so than the UK version). A quick overview of the show is that a group of 'normal' people (though there is also a 'celebrity' version) are put in a house together and are not allowed out for something like nine weeks, it changes with each version. The rules change slightly with each country, but basically they compete for things like food and, at the end of every week, one person is evicted. The last person left wins a large sum of money.  
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**The truth is, it's the kind of show that represents everything I hate. It brings out the worst in us as human beings. The reason I thought to do this story was, firstly, because I thought it would be interesting to put the characters in that sort of desperate position. I wanted to see how they'd react, who'd create alliances with whom and who'd end up on top. In addition, the season it's based on had one of the cutest showmances I'd ever seen. I wondered what it would be like to watch Big Brother at home and see these two characters (Merlin and Arthur) fall in love on screen. Imagine that, being able to watch the whole thing!**

**It's been nice to get some good feedback and I figured, seeing as the chapter was practically done, I might as well upload it. Chapter Three shouldn't** **too long either. Just a reminder to keep bearing in mind who you'd like to see win~!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Merlin woke up early the next day; he never had been good at sleeping in unfamiliar places. Instead of uselessly tossing and turning for another few hours in the hope of catching a few more minutes sleep, he got up and made his way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. To his surprise, he wasn't the only one apparently uncomfortable with the sleeping arrangements. Leaning on the kitchen counter, drinking from his own glass of water, was Arthur or 'the blonde god' as Gwen had dubbed him fondly.<p>

They nodded to each other as some sort of tired greeting while Merlin edged by him to reach the cabinet with the cups. He hadn't really spoken to Arthur much yet and, to be honest, he'd been a little intimidated by him. He was obviously a pretty confident guy, rich too and probably more than a little intelligent under that jock-like appearance. On the other hand, his strategy so far had been underwhelming to say the least, one might have even described it as downright stupid. However, his lack of fear and obvious strength still made him a striking contestant, though Merlin had a feeling that wasn't why the producers had accepted his application.

"Couldn't sleep?" The sound of Arthur's voice made him jump a little, he was almost ridiculously aware of the other man. Merlin nodded as he took a sip from his drink. He felt himself relax a little, as the cool liquid eased his pounding headache.

"Me too." Arthur grimaced; I got stuck in the toilet-bedroom thing."

Merlin smiled sympathetically. "It looked really cold in there, I bet that wasn't fun."

"Definitely not fun." Arthur stated bluntly. "How about you?"

"My bed's just fine, only problem is that I'm an awkward sleeper." He laughed slightly and then froze when an idea came to mind.

'_Might as well do it._' He thought. '_It'll make you a friend at least and that could be helpful in the future_.'

"Hey, I was going to go and paint for a few hours." He said, looking Arthur right in the eye now, resisting the urge to wince at the intense blue gaze he was met with. "You could take my bed and try and get a little sleep if you want."

Arthur's eyes widened. "Seriously? Is that okay?"

Merlin shrugged. "I usually get up at unearthly hours to paint anyway, it's fine with me."

Arthur laughed and slapped him on the back, an action that Merlin found he didn't appreciate much. "Thanks, oh man, you just saved my ass!"

Merlin just nodded, rubbing his now sore back, and watched as Arthur made his way to Merlin's room.

"Oh and Merlin?" Their eyes met again, just before Arthur's slim figure disappeared into his bedroom. "I won't forget this."

Then he was gone.

'_Okay, maybe that _was _a good idea._' Merlin grinned. '_That went better than expected_.'

Just as he said he would, Merlin spent the next few hours painting in the living room. He found the familiar feeling of a paintbrush against canvas calmed him and he certainly appreciated the few moments of peace. Still, he found it hard to relax completely when he could feel the stare of a camera on his back. He shuddered a few times at the thought, but continued his work.

At around eight, the rest of the houseguests started to rise from their deep slumbers, Arthur being one of the last. Though they didn't exchange any more words, which Merlin was a little disappointed about, if he was honest, the look in Arthur's eyes said it all. He was grateful and Merlin was sure he'd made the right choice to offer the man his bed.

This was the kind of game play he was aiming for. There was no way he'd get into an alliance with the Athletes; he hadn't proved himself a good enough competitor for that, at least, not yet. But if he kept making friends, even if they didn't act like friends in the open, he might just survive another week. Besides, voting for eviction was done in private, if someone (Arthur, for instance) voted against his team, no one had to know. However, despite the reassuring events of the morning, Merlin was still on high alert. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes and he definitely wasn't going to sit back and trust someone like Arthur.

The rest of that morning was spent lazing around. Most of them ventured out into the garden to find that they had a pool and a few machines for working out, a nice surprise for the tense contestants. Vivian and Morgause, an unlikely blonde duo, spent some time sunbathing in the garden much to the pleasure of Gwaine. Thus far, Gwaine had established a reputation as a ladies' man and seemed to have set his sights high, as he had spent a lot of his time hitting on Vivian, despite the fact that they were on two different teams. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that the attraction was shared. Vivian had set her sights even higher than Gwaine. If one just followed her gaze, it became obvious that Vivian had far bigger fish than Gwaine to fry.

Merlin's thought process was interrupted by booming voice, as he watched the goings on from inside.

"Would Merlin please come to the diary room."

He rolled his eyes, as the rest of the houseguests still inside laughed at his misfortune. Merlin dragged his feet while he made his way to the diary room, sulkily slamming his body against the doors, instead of opening them properly. His childish pout said it all, as he slumped back in the black swivel chair.

"We only have one question for you this morning," He could hear the smirk in the producer's voice as he spoke and he scowled. They knew how much he hated this part.

"All we want to know is what you think of Arthur and the reasoning behind your actions this morning."

Merlin bit his tongue. '_That's two questions, dumbass._' He took a few calming breaths - reminding himself that his mother could be watching and, therefore, profanity was not appropriate - before answering the question.

"Arthur seems like your average spoiled rich kid. He's already displayed that he can be a bad loser and has, thus far, failed to be anything but an ass. He's crude, blunt and trusts people far too easily. "

Merlin smirked. "On the other hand, he's proved himself to be a strong competitor. He very nearly won our first HOH competition and clearly seems to have gotten on the good side of Percival. Therefore, his brash actions seem to matter less. For this reason, and this reason alone, I'm extremely aware that he's likely to get far in this game. Though he's far too open about his anger and disappointment, his natural charm will get him through."

He took another deep breath before continuing his monologue. "I'll be honest; the reasoning behind giving him my bed this morning was purely selfish. I think little of him and I would never trust him, however, I can acknowledge that, at this point, he's playing the game better than me. So, naturally, I wanted to get on his good side."

Merlin's smirk grew. "I assure you, it was purely strategic."

There were a few more moments of silence, until it became obvious that Merlin wasn't going to say anything more.

"Thank you, Merlin. You may return now." The producer sounded a lot less smug now.

With a feeling of elation, having gotten so much off his chest, Merlin happily left the diary room to join his friends.

Just before midday, it was announced that they were to have another competition and they were told to assemble on the couches. Instead of that stupid presenter instructing them over the TV, Percival did it instead, as acting HOH. When they had all sat down, he began.

"Food is going to be a big part of your lives in the Big Brother house and this week is no different. Every week there will be a clique who are the 'have not's, who will be forced to eat nothing but slop, only take cold showers and have to sleep in a room prepared especially for them where beds are cold metal slabs."

They grimaced in unison at the very thought. Merlin shivered, he was having a hard enough time in the cosy crimson room; a hard floor wasn't going to be much of an upgrade.

"Seeing as I am the current HOH, the athletes are a part of the 'in' crowd and are, therefore, unable to become 'have not's this week. Due to this, they will not be participating in the competition."

Gwaine and Elyan made approving noises at this statement and high fived loudly as the rest of the contestants slumped back further in their seats.

"Now I need the rest of you to put your 'war paint' on and go out to the garden."

Percival pointed to a pile of large white paper bags in the corner that none of them had noticed. Upon unpacking them, they found that inside were white uniforms for each of them and neon glow-in-the-dark body spray paints. The girls' uniform consisted of white hot pants with a red stripe down the sides with a sports bra on top and a head band. The boys' was similar, except with trackie bottoms and tank tops with, of course, a head band.

Gwen grabbed the orange spray paint and grinned. "I think I found our colour!"

Reading the label, they discovered it would wash off after use and so they absolutely caked it on. It was on their faces, in their hair, on their legs and god knows where else. They stuck their hands in the stuff and put hand prints on each other's bodies, eventually even mixing some of the colours together.

After about half an hour of decorating each other's bodies, they finally ventured out into the garden.

They were cut off from part of the garden and were instead inside a massive black tent where the grass was covered by black tiles that were laid down upon it. It had been decorated to look like some sort of night club with dubstep playing in the background and various fairy lights dotted around.

In the corner was a massive sign in neon lights, spelling out the word 'Have'. Next to it was a long white corner couch with a disco ball and drinks. At the other end of the 'club', there were three rows of coloured blocks with a few feet between each block. One row was yellow, one was green and one was red. Thus, they immediately assumed that they were the different rows for their cliques.

Percival gathered the teams near to the 'have' area and began to explain the game.

"Welcome to the first ever 'have/have not' competition!"

This statement was met by shouts of enthusiasm from all cliques, eager to please their HOH.

Percival grinned. "Athletes, since you're the 'have's for the week, take a seat and relax."

Elyan and Gwaine grinned, as they reclined in their comfy VIP zone, though not without Gwaine flashing his best smile at Vivian, who rolled her eyes in disgust at the action.

"Okay, now to the game. On the dance floor is a coloured neon lane for each clique, in each lane there are four blocks. On each neon block there is a letter spelled out in piping, the letters spell out the word 'have'. In a moment, neon liquid will start flowing. When it does, use the piping provided in the containers at the start of your lane to connect all the letters, so the juice can flow all the way through. Then arrange the last pipe in a way that the wheel at the end will spin when the liquid hits it."

Everyone looked at the task ahead; the letters were pretty far away from one another. At least the wheel at the end was pretty close to the 'E', but still... They had to wonder just how it would be best to get all the way across without the line of pipes breaking or bending or snapping.

Merlin looked quickly from his own team to their competition. Morgana and her team mates were grinning smugly; they thought they had this in that bag.

'_Maybe they do._' Merlin thought, before diverting his attention back to Percival.

"However, remember that, if your clique finishes last, you will all be the 'have not's for the week." Percival grinned at them. "Okay, take your positions."

The cliques ran to their lanes, already looking at the pipes that they'd been supplied with in a large plastic container. They were all various shapes and sizes, some would fit perfectly and others wouldn't connect at all. This was going to be like a giant puzzle.

"Ready..."

'_Okay, you can do this._' Merlin thought, already eying up the first piece of piping they should go for. '_This isn't about physical strength; it's about intelligence and team work._'

"Set..."

'_Work together and communicate._'

"Go!"

There was a flash of neon all around him and for a moment he hesitated. Luckily, his team mates were on the top of their game.

"Come on!" Gwen exclaimed, already holding a pipe in her hand. "I'll build, I'll tell you what I need, you guys can just fetch and carry."

Merlin and Freya nodded, all too willing to let Gwen take control if she was prepared to. She generally wasn't the loudest person, but when someone needed to take charge she could surprise everyone. She wasn't necessarily the most natural leader, but, when needed, she could step up to the plate with ease. The decision was made in a split second, but neither Merlin nor Freya seemed to care if Gwen to charge of this competition. They were still all equals, right?

And Gwen turned out to be a good leader in the end. She was calm, but firm and made sure she got what she wanted. She called out reassuring words and made sure that they ignored the teams around them that they might concentrate properly. It was far from the easiest task they'd encounter though. The liquid ran very quickly and got absolutely everywhere. It was sticky and Merlin could see that Gwen was already losing her grip, but they kept going and before they knew it, they were at the 'A'.

For the first time, Merlin took a quick look around and was surprised. The Brains had just reached the 'H' and the Populars were only just about half way there. I suppose, it wasn't the fact that the Brains were beating the Populars that surprised him, it was the fact that the Brains were so far behind them! He felt his heart rate increase, as the blood pounded in his ears in time to the music they'd put on half way through the competition. Maybe they really could win this!

"Concentrate Merlin!" Gwen scolded him, at the first sign of trouble.

'_Right,_' he thought. '_You won't win if you focus on the other teams. You can do this, just concentrate!_'

They worked well together. Gwen's street smarts and natural methodical approach to the task paid off, along with Freya's determination and Merlin's attentiveness. Before they knew it, their wheel was flowing as the sticky neon liquid hit the separate compartments, causing it to spin smoothly.

He cheered as Gwen sighed in relief. "That was great Gwen, really great. _You _were great!" He grinned.

"Thanks," She whispered breathlessly, her voice a little hoarse from all the shouting. "You too."

"And you Freya," He smiled to his dark-haired team mate. "You were amazing too."

She nodded with a small smile playing on her lips, which he translated; from the language he'd dubbed 'Freyain', as being a polite 'thank you'.

About ten minutes later, the Brains finished with the Populars still at the letter 'V'. It became pretty obvious to Merlin, after finishing so quickly, that the only reason for the Populars' significant loss was their fussy female contestant: Vivian. She hated the look of the sticky juice and refused to go anywhere near it or anyone who'd touched it. Thus, Lancelot and Arthur did the whole thing by themselves which had made the whole process much longer. Arthur looked furious, absolutely fuming with rage, as they stood together at the end.

"Congratulations Offbeats and Brains," Percival exclaimed. "You are also 'have's for the week. Unfortunately,"

He looked sympathetically to his friend in red paint. "That means that the Populars are our 'have not's for the week. So let's go wash off all the paint and check out their new room."

Slowly, the contestant all filed into the house, passing the buckets of slop in the kitchen on their way and went right to the bathroom. After about twenty minutes, they'd all rinsed off and it was time to see the new 'have not' room.

Upon walking in it looked like a scene from an insane asylum and that's no exaggeration. It was extremely minimalistic, if you can even call it that, and the blow of cold air that hit Merlin as he walked him told him that this was probably going to be colder than the toilet bedroom.

The cold metal floor under his bare feet had no rug or carpet to cover it, the walls were plated in metal and for beds the contestants had been supplied with a slightly elevated, large metal slab that took up half the room. There were two double mattresses on the slab with four pillows on each mattress and that was it. Nothing else: no blankets, no duvets, no nothing. Merlin shivered, he so did not want to be a have not. Ever.

"This is horrible." Vivian moaned loudly. "I can't sleep here, someone swap with me~" She batted her eyelashes suggestively at Gwaine, but before he could speak someone else did.

"Well maybe if you'd actually bothered participating in the fucking competition you wouldn't _have _to sleep here." Arthur snapped, storming out of the room.

"That's going to be bleeped out in the TV version..." Merlin murmured, he was rewarded with a few sniggers from the Athletes.

'_Well if he's going to be such a bad loser,_' Merlin thought to himself as he watched Arthur's figure disappear into the kitchen. '_He bloody well deserves to lose. That guy needs to learn self-control._'

"Come on guys," The sound of Percival's voice disturbed his train of thought. "Let's go eat."

Vivian and Arthur both sulked for the rest of the evening, refusing to speak to each other, let alone anyone else. The rest of the houseguests were relaxing around the house. A couple of people were called to the diary room, but not Merlin. It seemed that they'd got enough footage from him that morning. Nothing of note happened till a little later, when Merlin, Gwen, Lancelot and Percival were sitting in the kitchen eating when something was said that stunned them all into silence.

"Nominations tomorrow," Percival said with a smirk on his face.

Merlin froze in his seat, was it bad that, through all the fun and new faces, he'd practically forgotten the one thing he should've been most terrified of? Well, that wasn't entirely true. It'd been there, at the back of his mind admittedly, but it'd still been there.

'_God he's not gonna' put me up,_' He paled as he felt his entire body go cold. '_Is he?_'

Before any of them were given the chance to voice their thoughts, Morgause entered the kitchen.

"Nominations tomorrow," She said casually, reaching in the fridge for her water bottle, it was unclear as to whether she'd just heard Percival say the same thing.

"That was what I was just saying." Percival clarified, eying Morgause carefully, he was obviously just as wary of her as everyone else. Merlin wasn't sure why, she just came across as a time bomb and they were all waiting for her to go off.

'_He hasn't really made any enemies yet,_' Merlin pondered, only half listening to what was going on now. '_Has he? If not, who's he going to put up?_'

'_I guess this really is like secondary school, it's all based on first impressions._'

"You're not gonna' put me up, right?" Morgause asked playfully, though it was obvious her intentions were that of something far different. If only she'd been a little more subtle about it.

Percival shrugged and frowned dangerously. "If I want to I will."

Morgause scowled. "But you have no reason to."

"How do you know? Besides, I can if I want."

Merlin suddenly perked up, this was getting interesting. The peacemaker inside of him was dying to interfere, but his game side told him that having an argument was good. If Percival had any reason to be angry with Merlin, which he didn't believe he did anyway, it would distract him. There was always that small chance that he'd done something stupid to make the guy want to get rid of him, having Morgause make an ass of herself would place the target square on her back instead.

"You're really fucking cocky," Morgause burst out, taking a few small steps towards Percival, her dark eyes piercing his muscular figure.

'_Does she even know what she's doing?_' Merlin thought. '_Never mind, let her ruin her chances. It makes the future brighter for you, or at least a little longer._'

Percival stood from his seat. "I think I got that right when I won HOH, don't you?" He sneered.

"Oh, fuck off you fat bastard." Morgause snapped, storming out of the kitchen.

Something in Percival seemed to break after she said that. "What did you just call me, bitch?" He yelled, following her straight out the room.

Merlin, Gwen and Lancelot looked at each other as the yells and insults continued. The pair fought for nearly half an hour, before Morgause escaped to the garden for a smoke and Percival locked himself in his HOH room. The atmosphere in the house was much tenser, as if everyone had only just remembered that tomorrow was nominations and the harsh truth that one of them was going home after just a week. There was no more moaning about rooms or food that night, just a lot of silence as the nerves grew in every single one of them. Merlin didn't get the chance to speak to anyone again until he was lying in bed that night.

"So," Gwen whispered to him, lying facing him on her parallel bed. "What do you think of the fight between Percival and Morgause?"

Merlin quickly glanced at the bed on the other side of the room: Lancelot was asleep. He relaxed a little after that. He liked Lancelot as a person, but he wasn't sure he wanted anyone from the Popular clique hearing his inner most thoughts.

"Is it wrong that I'm a little happy it happened?" He said back in the softest tone he could muster. "I mean, otherwise the nominations were just going to be about tiny things, like him not liking someone for looking at a picture of his wife in the wrong way!"

"No, you're right." Gwen agreed. "Besides, it's her own fault for acting so stupidly. Maybe she's bipolar or something, she just snapped so quickly."

"Maybe..." Merlin mused. "But we all want to know we're safe, right?"

"Hmm." There was a short silence.

"Hey Merlin?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think of Arthur?"

Merlin hesitated for a second before answering. "He seems nice enough, a bit stuck up though, why?"

Gwen giggled. "He's so dreamy~!"

"You think?" Merlin asked, grinning.

"Yeah, I'd tap that!"

They laughed out loudly together before hurriedly muffling their snorts of laughter with their pillows, for fear they'd wake their roommate.

Merlin sighed happily. "Goodnight Gwen."

"Goodnight Merlin."

A few moments later, when he was sure that Gwen was asleep, Merlin sat up in his bed once again. He felt a little bad for lying to Gwen, but only a little. Sure, she was a teammate, but she was still competition. There was no way he'd let anyone know what he really thought of the others, Arthur included.

'_All that stuff I said this morning,_' He thought to himself. '_It was just first impressions, I didn't really know that much about him. But now... now he really does seem to be a spoilt rich kid. Still...'_

His mind gifted him with a flash of their scene early that morning, he smiled. '_Maybe he isn't entirely bad._'


	3. Days Three and Four

**I'd like to thank everyone for the largely positive response. I've never been able to update such long chapters so quickly and I'm really enjoying writing this fic. Before this chapter, each chapter represented one day. However, if it were to continue in this fashion, we would end up with far too many chapters. Thus, as you will see in the following chapter, I'm attempting to push more than one day into each chapter.**

**I'd also like to draw to everyone's attention that this story is rated M, as there will be scenes of a sexual nature in future chapters. If anyone is uncomfortable with that, it would be wise to not read this story.**

**In response to the Anon reviewer 'Corn' I will be labelling the chapters with the week and day(s****) they represent. I hope this helps you all to follow to story.**

**Finally, I'd like to thank, once again, all of the reviewers and people who story alterted this fic. I'm always interested to hear your impressions of the story and it's direction. And please don't forget to keep in mind who you would like/ think a suitable choice would be to win.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Merlin woke up even earlier the next day, his dreams having been twisted into nightmares by the promise of nominations. He'd woken up at various times in the night already and, at four, he decided enough was enough. Grabbing his sketch book and pencil case, he carefully tip toed out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.<p>

What he hadn't expected was to find was a familiar figure, leaning in an unforgettable fashion on the kitchen counter once again. He smiled a little; maybe it was time to make a few more connections with the rich ass.

"How's the metal slab?" Arthur jumped at the sound of his voice, obviously a little spooked, and swung around to see who it was. He seemed visibly relieved to see Merlin.

"Fine." He said without really thinking.

"Really?" Merlin asked cynically, as he slipped into the seat next to where Arthur was standing with his drawing equipment.

Arthur raised an eyebrow for a second, wondering if he could really speak his mind around this guy. But after a few seconds he seemed to just think 'fuck it' and let loose. An attitude that Merlin had noticed was common with the blonde.

"No, not really: it's shit. My back aches, my feet are freezing and I haven't slept a bloody wink." He raved, slamming his glass down on the kitchen counter. Then he paused and looked to Merlin for a reaction.

"It was always going to be pretty bad." Merlin smiled weakly, trying to be sympathetic.

Arthur merely sighed. "It's probably not that bad; I guess I'm just a bit... snobby."

Merlin cocked an eye brow.

"Okay, maybe more than a bit." Arthur grinned, flashing Merlin smile worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Merlin found himself left a little breathless, but he recovered with more ease than he had expected. He definitely hadn't expected the man to admit to such a thing but, then again, the blonde's directness had stunned him again and again over the last couple of days. On the other hand, Arthur's frankness had also given Merlin an extremely negative impression of him as a competitor. One day he'd end up saying these kinds of things to someone who'd use it against him. Fortunately, Merlin was looking for allies, rather than enemies.

"And I suppose his highness would much rather have his own king sized bed, overloaded with drapes and cushions." Merlin suggested playfully.

"That sounds about right." Arthur sustained the joke with an easy grin. "And if you're lucky enough, I'll even let you be my manservant."

Merlin dramatically flung his hand up to his forehead, like a damsel in distress. "If only I should be so lucky."

They laughed and Arthur came to sit in the chair beside Merlin.

"So," He said quietly. "Drawing and not painting today?"

Merlin nodded, surprised that the blond would show an interest in such a thing. "It doesn't take as much effort."

"Can I see?" Arthur asked cautiously.

He hesitated for a second, but reminded himself that if Arthur was prepared to be open, he had to be too.

'_Arthur's a strong competitor, if you can get him to trust you, you might be able to get him to carry you through the competition a bit._' He had to keep reminding himself, this was a game, no matter how close he got to his competition. Then again, he probably didn't have to worry about that with Arthur; the man seemed to have a knack for displaying all of his most undesirable qualities when Merlin was around.

"Sure, but there isn't much in it." He said as Arthur opened the front of the black book. "I bought a couple of new sketch books before I came, I was hoping to fill them all by the time I left."

"Is this...?" Arthur said questioningly, pointing to a small head-sketch of Gwen, Merlin frowned weakly as he realised that Arthur couldn't remember the girl's name.

"It's Gwen."

"Of course," Arthur added quickly, flipping to see that Merlin had completed three pages of small sketches. "Morgana, Lancelot, Percival and... is that Percival's dog?" Arthur grinned.

Merlin nodded. "I couldn't help it, especially after I saw the picture in his room.

Arthur chuckled under his breath. "But none of me, why's that?"

Merlin froze, was he trying to deliberately pick on him? He narrowed his eyes at the blond's cocky smirk ever so slightly; he definitely didn't trust this man, not one bit. He attempted to relax his tense shoulders and hide his confusion by smiling with as much sincerity as he could find.

"I guess I just haven't had time. These are all completely random."

"Well, maybe next time you'll have some." Arthur noted as he stood up, stretching his arms.

"Next time?"

"Yeah, have fun drawing, I'm going to try and get some sleep."

With a final curt wave, Arthur was gone.

"Night." Merlin whispered softly, though no one was there to hear it.

'_Was that good?_' Merlin didn't even know himself. Arthur seemed okay at times, at least when he was on his own. Other times he was a complete dick, the very epitome of what it meant to be a rich stereotype. In addition, during the majority of the day, the only people he went out of his way to talk to were the Athletes. If Merlin so much as tried to make eye contact with him, he looked away.

'_Figures,_' Merlin mused as he fingered the corners of his sketchbook. '_Well, at least __**he**__ doesn't have anything to worry about this week._'

Still, Merlin knew that if he could crack Arthur, he would have a damn good chance of winning the competition. So when the opportunity arose, he would still attempt to talk to him.

A few hours later, the rest of the houseguests started to wake up. Morgause came out looking considerably less perky than before and, judging by the dark circles under her eyes, had finally realised the fate she'd condemned herself to. Still, Merlin couldn't find it in himself to feel sorry for her. She'd brought this on herself.

"You're always up so early, Merlin." Morgana said sleepily as she ate her soggy cereal.

He shrugged. "Just comes naturally, I guess."

"I wish I could be like that," Gwen cut in as she passed them in order to reach the fridge and yawned loudly. "I barely slept a wink last night."

"Me neither," Lancelot added as he joined the group. "Too nervous."

An uncomfortable silence swept over the room as they awkwardly went about doing whatever it was they wanted. Eventually, Merlin excused himself to change and get ready for the nominations ceremony. However, before he could even reach his suitcase, an annoyingly familiar voice called out over the speakers placed around the house.

"Would Merlin please come to the diary room."

He resisted the urge to express his irritation with profanity and, instead, kicked his nearby suitcase. After taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he exited the bedroom and headed for the diary room.

Sitting down in front of the camera was always very daunting; it was hard to relax when it was so obvious that you were being recorded. The rest of the time, he'd managed to pretty much forget all about the cameras and, more often than not, the fact that he was wearing a microphone at all times. He was an awkward enough person anyway, placing him in front of that great big contraption only made things worse.

"Hello Merlin," He heard the producer's voice. "We only need you for a few minutes, all we want you to do is tell us how you're feeling about nominations and whether or not you're expecting to be put on the block."

He sighed; at least here he didn't have to hold back: no one else could hear him.

"It's hard. Everyone's going to be nervous, whether they think they're going up or not." He stated calmly. "I mean, you can tell how tense the house is already."

He paused, remembering the scene he'd just left. "I suppose, I don't think I'm going to be put up for eviction. But then again, it's hardly out of the question. There are... other people I can see going up before me though."

There was a small silence. "Thank you, Merlin." The voice made him jump a little. "You can go now."

He murmured a little 'thank you' as he stood up to leave, feeling a slightly uplifted after talking about what seemed to be taboo in the house. Maybe the diary room confessions wouldn't be so bad after a while, if he could just get used to having a camera lens shoved in his face.

About an hour later, Percival called the houseguests to the round dining room table and announced that it was time for their first ever nominations ceremony. Within ten minutes, the contestants were sitting straight in their seats, just waiting for it to be over already. Merlin was one of the last to join them and, as he sat down, Gwen took his hand and squeezed it with a sympathetic smile as if to say 'it's okay'.

'_Am I really that easy to read?' _He wondered with a smile, but the thought was soon gone from his head, as Percival entered the room, carrying a large circular object with him.

Placing it down on the table, the thing was about a meter wide and had a circle of keys fitted into it. That was, apart from two of the slots which were empty. Shooting looks at one another across the table, they all knew what that meant.

"Welcome to the first ever nominations ceremony," Percival said slowly, without his usual grin. Even he seemed to have noticed the severity of the situation.

'_I suppose he'll be making some enemies today._' Merlin thought to himself. '_I guess that's the only downside of getting HOH_.'

"In this contraption there are twelve key slots, potentially for each player in the game." Percival's gaze flicked from one contestant to another, meeting each of their eyes for only a few seconds. "However, as you can see, only ten keys are currently fitted in the slots. On each key there is a name, if your key is in a slot, you're safe."

He paused here, silently checking that everyone was keeping up with him. "As HOH, I will pull the first key; my key." After saying that, he pulled one of the large purple keys from a slot and showed the rest of the houseguests where his name was displayed in bold white letters.

"Now, I will pull the next key and that person is safe. Then, that person will pull the next key and so on." Quickly checking the circle he reached for the next key as the rest of the houseguests held their breath.

"Elyan," Percival looked up to his teammate. "You are safe."

The dark man smiled as he took his key. '_Oh yeah_,' Merlin remembered. '_The Athletes are all guaranteed safety this week._'

Nodding to his clique-mate, as if in thanks, Elyan pulled the next key.

"Gwaine," He grinned at the man in question and handed him his key. "You are safe."

Merlin heard Morgana sigh beside him, the whole ordeal of removing the keys of the people they already knew were safe only made the tension build. He felt his hands turn to fists and his nails dig into his skin, as he abused his bottom lip.

Gwaine turned the circular contraption in order to pull the next key.

"Gwen," He saw the woman beside him visibly relax instantaneously. "You are safe."

"Thank you Percival," She nodded to the HOH on the opposite side of the table as she took her key. Sighing a few times in relief to calm herself, she pulled the next key.

"Vivian," She announced, smiling weakly at the blonde girl on the other side of the table. "You are safe."

Without bothering to thank Percival, Vivian snatched her key from Gwen and angrily pulled out the next key without a word.

'_She's probably just PMSin'_' Merlin sniggered to himself.

"Morgana," She said, obviously displeased by the look of the scowl on her face. "You are safe."

Morgana smiled sweetly, though not without a hint of sarcasm, at Vivian before taking her key.

"Thank you Percival!" She grinned and hurriedly pulled out the next key, the quicker this was over the better.

"Lancelot," She smirked at the handsome man on her left. "You are safe."

He sighed in relief as he took his key. "Thank you Percival." Spinning the round contraption, he took out the next key and caught Merlin's eye.

Lancelot grinned. "Merlin, you are safe."

Merlin felt his shoulder shrug at the amazing bliss of such a sudden release of tension. The other houseguests laughed appreciatively, as he took his key.

"Thanks Percival," He smiled softly to the man sitting smugly at the table, as if a King watching his subjects.

'_Only two keys left now,_' He thought as his shaking hands pulled the next one. '_Only Freya, Leon, Arthur and Morgause left._'

He smiled, as he looked down at the writing on key. "Freya, you are safe."

The girl looked unfazed as she took her key, but nodded respectively to Percival. If she had been nervous, she hadn't shown it and calmly pulled the final key.

'_Who will it be?_' Merlin thought, his entire body still quaking with fright. At least all of his team was safe now; still he didn't really want to see anyone go home yet. Apart from Morgause perhaps, and Vivian too, but certainly not Leon. As to Arthur, seeing as he'd been putting in some effort to make a connection with the guy it would be best if he didn't get voted out so quickly.

'_Maybe I should be glad though,_' He told himself as Freya looked up, taking in all their expressions before she spoke. '_They're both fierce competitors. Maybe it's best someone else gets them out before they get rid of the rest of us._'

"Leon," Freya said slowly. "You are safe."

Taking his key, Leon wiped his forehead. "Thanks mate," He nodded to Percival as their HOH stood up.

"As you can see," Percival said calmly, though not without a smirk. "I have nominated Arthur and Morgause for eviction."

Merlin looked at the rest of the houseguests; all looked fairly shocked apart from Gwaine and Elyan. Then again, they'd probably been in on it the entire time. He, himself, was more than a little surprised to see Arthur up there. Over the last few days the Athletes had really taken him under wing.

'_Then again,_' Merlin thought. '_Maybe that was their way of giving him a false sense of security. Arthur certainly doesn't look like he expected it._'

Arthur looked pissed. His vivid blue eyes were narrowed on Percival, his delicate mouth set in a permanent scowl that made everyone feel uncomfortable. The contestants looked at each other, perhaps hoping to find some reasoning behind this decision and, soon enough, Percival began to speak once again.

"Really, I don't think anyone's surprised to see you up there, Morgause." Percival sneered. "You're rude and insincere. Not to mention your use of derogatory language."

He paused for a second and then let his gaze fall upon a rather furious looking Arthur; he seemed surprisingly fond of the boy, despite the fact that he'd just put him up for eviction. "And you, Arthur. It's nothing personal, you're an okay guy. But you're playing the game and you're playing it well. You're physically a strong competitor and I don't think anyone can deny that you're charming. The truth is, if no one stops you now, you'll be walking to the finals."

That didn't seem to appease Arthur at all. He folded his arms and scowled at Percival, narrowing his eyes even more for effect. Percival just ignored his fury.

"I now declare the first nominations ceremony of the season, over."

With a mutual feeling that they'd just dodged a bullet, the contestants rose from their seats and waited subtly to see some sort of reaction come from the two nominees. That is, apart from Vivian, who approached her blonde friend with surprising grace.

"Tough luck, girl." She said, smirking, sliding her hand up Morgause's arm as if to calm her. The action was the most sincere they'd seen come from Vivian and, for just moment, more than a few of the houseguest began to wonder if they'd misjudged the girl.

However, before any of them had time to decide so, Morgause swatted the girl's hand away and stared daggers at her. "Fuck off, Vivian. You have no fucking idea."

And with that, Morgause stormed off .

Looking around, Merlin realised that the Athletes had already retreated to the HOH room, probably to discuss what had just happened and that Arthur had already disappeared. He caught Gwen's eye and smiled.

"Looks like we both made it," She said cheerfully, guiding him slowly back to their room.

"Yeah, looks like it." He repeated softly as he closed the door of their room.

Leaning back on the closed door, he watched Gwen fall back onto her bed and catch his eye again.

"What are you thinking?" She asked slowly, not totally sure if it was her place to ask.

He sighed. "I'm not really sure what to think. I mean, I didn't expect that."

"Me neither, but Percival was right."

"Right about what?"

Gwen smiled weakly. "Arthur was walking to the finals, he's big competition."

"I suppose." Merlin murmured, moving from the door to slouch back on his own bed. "I guess it does seem smart to get rid of your biggest threat first."

Gwen nodded. "Smart, but a shame."

"Why do you say that?"

His roommate grinned mischievously. "Because he's bloody hot."

Merlin laughed. "Whatever."

A few minutes later, Gwen was called to the diary room to comment on the events of the nominations ceremony. Left alone for the first time since the meeting, Merlin leaned back on his bed and covered his eyes with the back of his arm.

'_You should be happy, Gwen's right._' He thought. '_Percival's potentially taking out your biggest competition._'

Removing his arm, he rubbed his head. He had a splitting migraine from the sudden relief of all that stress; thinking wasn't going to make it any better. Getting out of bed, he scrambled around on the floor until he found his suitcase and pulled out some aspirin. After taking it with a glass of water, he grabbed a book and headed out to the garden.

The garden, when not decorated or fenced off for a challenge, was surprisingly pleasant. Upon walking out of the large clear double doors in the dining room, you were greeted by a large open space covered in green grass. The house was built in a way that meant the garden was in the middle, and the rest of the building surrounded it. Effectively, from above, you'd see a donut shape. The garden was far more than grass though. On the right there was a small pool and jacuzzi, nothing special but enough to keep them cool in the heat. On the right was some decking, with a couple of white couches, a hammock and a pool table. Already, there had been suggestions of asking for a barbeque, though Merlin was certain they'd probably end up having to complete some challenge in order to get it. Over all though, it was a fairly peaceful place.

As Merlin closed the doors behind him, he was surprised to be greeted by silence. For once the garden was completely empty. With his book in hand, he strolled over to one of the couches and slowly fell back on it. Opening his book, he found the house around him begin fade away with his worries, as he was carried away to far off lands with the most unimaginable people.

He must've been concentrating completely on the book, for he didn't notice when Gwaine loudly slammed the back door behind him, nor did he hear his loud footsteps on the decking. Instead, he felt the sharp sting of his book being smashed in his face. With a small yelp, he pulled the book off his face and looked up to see his antagonist standing proudly in front of him.

"Hey, Merlin." Gwaine said pleasantly, grinning at his companion.

Red-faced, Merlin somehow managed to stutter a reply; he totally hadn't been prepared for that. Then again, Gwaine had been anything but unpredictable so far.

"So~" Gwaine slumped in the couch beside Merlin. "What are you doing?"

"Reading," Merlin smirked. "Or at least I _was_. How about you?"

Gwaine shrugged, breaking their eye contact to look out into the garden. "Just trying to relax. Today's been mental so far."

"I think everyone just got a bit stressed." Merlin said carefully, not wanting to misspeak around this guy. He was, after all, one of Percival's right hand men.

"Hmm." Gwaine frowned, obviously remembering something displeasing. "I guess that's how it's going to be every week from now on though."

"I guess." There was a short silence before Gwaine opened his mouth to speak again.

"Would Gwaine please come to the diary room." He was interrupted by the speakers, Merlin smiled sympathetically to him.

Gwaine sighed as he stood up. "I guess that's me."

"See you later, Gwaine."

"See ya." Gwaine gave him a little wave as he slipped back in the house.

Merlin leaned back on the couch, that situation could've gotten awkward. If Gwaine had asked his opinion on nominations, he could've been digging his own grave. Picking up his book, he decided it was time to get some lunch and headed back inside the house.

When he got in, the kitchen was also empty; it seemed that everyone had escaped back to their rooms. Throwing his book on a side table by the back door, Merlin grabbed a plate and made himself a sandwich. But, before he could retreat to his own room, a rather dishevelled Arthur stormed past the kitchen. Ignoring Merlin, he stomped up the stairs and stopped at the door to the HOH room. Merlin watched intently as the man calmed himself with a few deep breaths before knocking on the door and entering.

Merlin swallowed loudly, feeling as if he'd just seen something he wasn't supposed to.

'_Maybe he's going to try and make amends,_' He thought, chewing on his bottom lip. '_I hope he doesn't make it worse._'

"Hey Merlin," Gwen interrupted his train of thought as she wandered into the kitchen.

He smiled to her as he put his plate in the dishwasher. "Hey."

"What's up?"

He hesitated for a second, wondering whether or not to tell her what had happened.

'_She's your ally, for now._' He told himself quickly. '_But maybe not forever._'

"Nothing, I think I'm going to try and get some more sleep."

She nodded, not entirely convinced but satisfied for the time being. "I'll probably come join you in a minute."

"Okay." He replied through a yawn as he opened the door to their crimson paradise. A few steps later and he was collapsed on his bed, fast asleep, exhausted by the many events that had occurred in such a short space of time. The next time he woke up it would be dark.

* * *

><p>Arthur was furious. No, 'furious' didn't even cut it. There were no words to describe the intensity of the anger he was feeling right now. There he was, fuming in Percival's HOH room, staring right at the very man who'd betrayed him.<p>

'_They've been planning this all along,_' He thought, narrowing his eyes on the man. Judging by the size of the man's smirk, he was probably right.

"Look, Arthur. I like you." Percival said, breaking the silence.

Arthur raised one of his eyebrows cryptically.

"No, really, I do!" Percival tried to assure him, catching onto how insincere his excuses sounded.

Percival sighed. "Look, I'll tell you the truth. We don't really have anything against you."

"Then why the fuck did you put me up for eviction?" Arthur screamed, far from content with Percival's unconvincing reasoning.

"Because you're a pawn."

Arthur looked at him in disbelief. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Percival rolled his eyes at the boy. "It means that, as long as one of us wins the Veto, we're going to take you down to put up someone else."

"So I'm a cover up?"

"Yeah, basically."  
>Arthur's glare intensified. "What if we don't win the Veto?"<br>Percival smirked. "That's your problem, not mine."

Arthur sighed; there really was no reasoning with this guy. This was probably just another web of lies, like the last two days had been.

"I'd say 'thank you'," Arthur stated as he stood up to leave. "But I wouldn't mean it."

Percival scowled. "You need to be careful with that attitude of yours, Pendragon. It might get you into trouble one day."

"Oh, piss off." Arthur's retort was followed by the slamming of a door.

Once outside the room, he took a deep breath.

'_Was that really a wise thing to do, Arthur?_' He pondered as he walked back downstairs. '_If they really weren't already out to get rid of you, they definitely are now._' He stopped at the bottom of the stairs to look out the large clear windows.

"It's night already."

"It sure is." Arthur practically jumped at the sound of that voice. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't surprising to see the dangly Merlin behind him though.

The dark haired artist had been kinder to him than most of the people in his house, but he couldn't help questioning the boy's motives. At first glance, the twenty two year old wasn't much to look at. He was fairly ordinary looking, truth be told. Had they passed each other in the street perchance, he probably wouldn't have batted an eyelash at him. From what he'd gathered so far, Merlin wasn't an extraordinary person by any standard. Certainly not a person he'd be looking to form some sort of alliance with, at the very least. And yet, for some reason, they kept running into each other at just the right time.

'_I guess this is one of those times,_' Arthur thought, as Merlin came to stand beside him to look out at the sky.

For the first time, he took a proper look at the man. He was wearing plain black jogging bottoms and a white top, both pieces of clothing had began to fray at the edges and the colours were faded. His hair was dark and unruly, sticking up in all directions at the moment. Perhaps, Arthur guessed, because he'd just gotten out of bed. His eyes still looked a tad too glazed for him to be entirely conscious and he looked fairly tired too. Standing next to Arthur, the 'epitome' of beauty (as he'd once been told), he probably looked unkempt and scruffy. Polar opposites sharing the night sky.

All in all, Arthur thought, he came across as a harmless young man. He wasn't threatening or intimidating, nor manipulative or conniving. He was just pleasant.

'_Then again,_' He considered. '_I never know what's going on in that head of his. I should probably be more cautious around him._'

Brushing those thoughts aside, he took a breath before he spoke. "Where is everyone?"

"In their rooms," Merlin answered quickly, as if he knew what Arthur would ask all along. "They're still reeling over nominations."

Arthur sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair. "I can't blame them, I suppose."

There was a short silence before Merlin finally spoke again. "You know you probably won't even get evicted, right?" He said it so softly, if Arthur had wanted he probably could've pretend he hadn't said it at all.

"You can't say that for sure." His reply was almost just as soft.

Merlin finally dragged his gaze from the outside scene to look his companion in the eye. "No one likes her, Arthur. And you're a popular guy. You have no worries."

Arthur opened his mouth to reply, but found that his mouth was dry, so he merely looked away.

"Besides," Merlin spoke once again. "You'll probably win the Veto."

The next silence dragged out for a lot longer. They stood there, comfortable with one another's company, if just for a while. Each of them went off in their own world, while still being strangely aware of one other. However, the time came all too quickly when Arthur made a move to leave.

"I think I'm going to go to bed." He said, quickly glancing to the room leading to his door, as if it might disappear if he did not. "But thanks, for this, I mean."

Merlin merely nodded at him, as if to say 'You're welcome,' before making his own way to the main living room.

And, somehow, Arthur managed to get a few hours sleep.

* * *

><p>'<em>And just what was that exactly?<em>' Merlin asked himself as he curled up on one of the long couches.

He thought back on the short conversation. He tried to focus on the way Arthur had spoken, his body language, in the hope that he might begin to piece together just what had happened between Arthur and Percival earlier. Instead, he found himself dwelling on his own words. He worried briefly that he might have been too forward, but quickly brushed off the feeling.

'_It's been a long day for him._' He concluded. '_He's probably exhausted._'

"Merlin?" He looked up at the sound of the voice. Gwen stepped out of the shadows to join him on the sofa.

"Hey," He said quietly, smiling weakly at her. "It's late; we should probably go back to bed."

"Yeah, we should." Her reply was so hushed; he could tell immediately that her mind was elsewhere.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" Merlin, truth be told, wasn't really in the mood for a heart to heart with Gwen. He was tired and confused about his change of behaviour during his conversation with Arthur.

She sighed dramatically. "I came in this house for the money, but I think I might come out with something else."

He raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"I think I'm falling in love with Arthur."

Silence ensued as Merlin's mind was sent reeling. The rush of an unfamiliar emotion flushed through his body.

"Gwen, we've only been in this house for three days." He said to her incredulously. "Besides, how much have you actually spoken to him?"

She practically winced at his words. "You can talk! I bet you've hardly spoken a word to the man." She retorted.

Merlin felt a sting at those words but decided, perhaps, that it was better to let her think that the two men were virtually strangers. "I suppose you're right. But still, don't jump to conclusions."

Gwen sighed. "You're right. I just..." She paused for a moment, mulling over the words. "I suppose, for now, it's enough to say that I'm attracted to him."

She grinned. "I'm attracted to him a lot."

Merlin forced a smile. "I'm happy for you."

Gwen smiled back happily. "I'm so glad to get that off my chest. I haven't been able to get him off my mind at all."

"Well, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be." He assured her. "But, for now, we should probably both get some rest."

She merely nodded with that ridiculous grin on her face, before following him back to their bedroom.

* * *

><p>Arthur was shaken awake after just a few hours of sleep, much to his displeasure. His feet were cold, his hair was greasy and his lips were dry. On top of that, he was greeted into consciousness by the ever annoying face of a certain Vivian.<p>

"Wakey, wakey, sleepy head!" Every time she spoke to him, she put on this ridiculously high pitched voice that triggered a sharp pain in his head.

"What the fuck, Vivian?" He murmured groggily, pushing himself up to a sitting position.

She barely flinched at his use of profanity, a surprisingly telling detail of her usual company. She did, however, put on an absurd expression of mock horror.

"It's not fitting to use such language around a lady; you should know better, Arthur." She scolded him.

He merely rolled his eyes at her. "Just tell me why you decided to wake me up at this unearthly hour.

She sniffed, obviously offended at his lack of care for her. "They were calling for you to go to the diary room. I thought I should let you know."

He grimaced and stood up unenthusiastically to make his way to that dreadful room.

'_Why on earth would they call me at this time of night?_' He thought, pushing the door open.

"We only have one question for you, Arthur." The producer's voice called almost as soon as his arse had touched the leather of the seat.

"And what might that be?" He asked sarcastically.

"What do you think of Merlin?"

He paused, shocked for a moment that the question hadn't revolved around nominations, until he realised that, really, it did. He sighed before speaking again.

"From a game perspective, he seems fairly weak. He proved himself to be of adequate physical strength in our first HOH competition, though not strong enough to beat the other contestants here. Therefore, this surprise was useless, as far as impressing the important people in the house goes. In addition, from personal experience, I know that he is a fairly selfless person. He will sacrifice his own comfort for that of another. This, in my opinion, makes him a feeble competitor. He's appeasing all of us right now, which seems to be enough to carry him through at the moment, but I doubt it'll keep it him in all the way through."

He paused, wondering for a moment if he'd said enough, but one of those small voices, in the back of his head, teased him into saying more. He just couldn't leave the subject on that note.

"On the other hand, as a human being, as Arthur Pendragon, I find him to be decent. Perhaps, a little too kind for his own good and certainly too keen to please but, nevertheless, a nice person. But that's all; just 'nice'. He doesn't strike me as a particularly special or interesting person. I suppose the most extraordinary thing about him, is that he is average in every aspect of the word."

There was a short silence before the producer spoke again. "Thank you, Arthur. You may go."

Arthur wondered if he should feel bad about his confession. He didn't.

'_For all you know,_' His game side told him. '_He could've done the same to you._'

* * *

><p>The contestants rose once again at around 9AM the next morning, all glad to hear they had a free day. The tension in the house was still high and, for the first time, the contestants seemed to be taking sides. The only group, who didn't have a clear opinion on the situation, was that of the Athletes. It was assumed, to a certain extent, that they would not mind too much which of the nominees was evicted. Merlin had come to the conclusion that Gwaine and Elyan would merely be told in advance by Percival on which houseguest to vote for. That said, cliques weren't voting together. Vivian, one such example, was still backing Morgause one hundred percent, despite their small agreement and regardless of the fact that Arthur was a member of her own clique.<p>

Merlin was starting to realise how difficult this game would become. He was suddenly aware that alliances were being made secretly, alliances that could result in him, or any one of his clique mates, being evicted. It struck him, once again, that it was now all the more important for him to make some strong allies.

As he was thinking about all this, he was sitting in the kitchen, holding a mug of tea, when Morgana came to sit beside him.

"Good morning!" She said pleasantly, grinning at him as she nibbled on her toast.

Her infectious smile contaminated him easily. "You seem to be in a good mood."

"Well, everyone else has gone into some sort of mourning period. One of us has to try and stay optimistic." Her grin widened.

Merlin's own smile weakened. "How's she holding up?"

Morgana shrugged. "Okay, I think she expected it. It doesn't matter though, because there's no way she's going home."

Merlin felt another grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "It's good she's got you."

Morgana merely kept smiling in reply.

* * *

><p>When Arthur woke up again, the 'have not' room was empty. Rather than going out in look of the drama that was, no doubt, occurring, he merely lay back in his bed and closed his eyes again.<p>

'_Silence._' He thought happily. Oh, how he'd missed it. The peace and quiet was refreshing and he indulged in the feeling for several minutes, before dragging himself up to search for breakfast.

As he walked into the kitchen, incoherent shouts and insults could be heard coming from upstairs. He sighed, that was just what this house needed: _more _arguments. He vaguely noted that the woman Merlin had drawn, the woman called 'Gwen', was sitting in the kitchen also.

"What's going on?" He asked unenthusiastically, as he opened the fridge to grab the milk. The young woman twitched at the sound of his voice, obviously surprised that she was being spoken to, despite the fact that he was in clear view.

"Leon and Percival are having an argument." She finally said, after assuring herself that he was talking to her and no one else, by looking around to check that she really was the only person there.

Arthur cocked an eyebrow. That was strange; the two men had never shown any dislike for one another. They were very different, that was a given, but Leon was such an amicable person, Arthur had thought it was impossible _not _to get along with him.

"What are they arguing about?" He asked incredulously.

She shrugged vaguely. "Percival said something to Morgana that Leon didn't like."

He rolled his eyes. '_It would be something like that. That man is too valiant for his own good._'

Grabbing his bowl of cereal, he abandoned the kitchen in favour of the garden. It was an annoyingly sunny day and the garden was surprisingly beautiful. Thankfully, when he opened the clear double doors, it was amazingly empty. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, at the sight of this peaceful paradise. He made his way to one of the long couches and reclined there as he ate his breakfast. However, the quiet didn't last long, as the disturbing noise of the double doors sliding open rang through the air. He sighed, as Gwaine and Merlin strolled into the garden, laughing loudly.

"Oh, hey Arthur!" Merlin called pleasantly.

Arthur scowled, as the pair approached him. Were they not picking up his '_fuck off_' signals?

"'Sup, Arthur?" Gwaine nodded to him respectfully, attempting to defuse this potentially awkward situation.

He shrugged, already feeling antisocial enough.

"Don't be such a prat." Merlin joked. "Come on, we're trying to cheer you up."

"Whatever." And with that, Arthur stood up and left.

* * *

><p>Merlin merely sighed as he watched Arthur leave. So they still couldn't talk to each other unless they were alone? Yeah, that was a great ally.<p>

"You're too nice, Merlin." Gwaine said reassuringly, squeezing his companion's shoulder.

'_If only you knew._' He thought with a smirk.

* * *

><p>The rest of that day was spent just relaxing in general. Arthur stayed in his room, Merlin attempted to socialise. The argument between Leon and Percival was soon over, but the tension in the house far from lifted.<p>

'_This could change everything._' Merlin thought that night, as he lay in bed. '_I guess we'll just have to wait until tomorrow.'_


	4. Days Five and Six

**Again, I'd like to thank everyone for their reviews. I've never written something so quickly,**** with such long chapters and I'm so happy to be rewarded with a positive response.**

**I'm glad you guys liked having some stuff from Arthur's perspective, by the time you guys said I'd already written this chapter with more of it! Yay! So I hope you guys continue to enjoy it.**

**Also, to MistressMadHatter, you'll be glad to know that (even before I recieved your review) I'd written this chapter with exactly what you wanted. It'll make sense by the end, I promse. c:**

**The next chapter is already on its way, with the first eviction. So you guys can already look forward to that.**

**I do listen to you guys when you review and I'm always ready to make improvements. This fic is quite special to me and this chapter got me thinking more about how the public would be viewing this. You'll see more of this theme in the future too.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>When Merlin woke up, his bedroom was empty. Instead of going in search of company, as he usually did, he merely lay in bed for a few more minutes and closed his eyes.<p>

'_It's the Veto competition today._' He thought to himself. '_I wonder if Arthur will get taken off the block._'

A few moments later, he got up from his bed, pulling a sweater over his head. He groggily brushed his hand through his unruly hair, as if he could push away such thoughts just as easily.

Surprisingly, the rest of the house was fairly quiet, though it was already nine in the morning. He made his way to the kitchen, where Gwen sat eating a piece of toast.

"Mornin'." He said half-heartedly.

"Morning, Merlin." She paused to look him up and down. "You look terrible."

He smiled weakly. "Thanks, Gwen."

"N-no," She stuttered, waving her hands around in the air. "I wasn't trying to be rude."

Merlin sighed. "It's okay, you're right."

He'd barely slept a wink last night; he was far too excited to sleep. No, perhaps 'excited' was the wrong word. Scared was probably a better one. Scared of what though? He wasn't quite sure himself. Everything in this place was so unstable, he felt like he was constantly waiting to be pounced on. It was like he was expecting to be eliminated.

'_It's okay, you're absolutely fine, Merlin._' He told himself, sipping the drink Gwen had got him. '_You're practically through the first week._'

* * *

><p>When Arthur woke up, having only slept for a few hours at the most, he was scared. Really and properly scared, for the first time since he'd entered the house. His hands shook shamelessly, a mocking sign of weakness. He was vulnerable right now and he knew it but, for some reason, he still couldn't find it in himself to accept someone like Merlin as an ally.<p>

'_For all I know,_' He thought, dragging himself out of the bed. '_He might not want to anymore._'

He moved over to the other side of the room, where a three metre wide mirror stood. He looked at himself in the reflective surface.

"It's okay," He told himself, trying to desperately forget that he was being filmed. "You can do this, Arthur."

* * *

><p>The rest of the morning went fairly quickly. Most of the contestants were hanging around in groups, based on who they were supporting and, thus, Merlin had only really seen Gwen and Freya all day. Finally, at around 11AM, Percival called the contestants together and they gathered on the two long couches from their very first day. The minor difference was that, this time, at the right end of the couches, the nominees sat on two red armchairs.<p>

"It's time for our very first Veto competition!" Percival cried enthusiastically once everyone had sat down with a confident smirk on his face. "The winner of the Veto competition has the power to take down one of the nominees. If they choose to do so I, as head of house, will pick a new nominee. In addition to this, they will be immune from eviction."

He now turned and picked up a small paper bag that had been lying on the floor behind him. "Only six people will take part in the Veto competition: the HOH, the two nominees and three other contestants picked randomly out of this bag."

"As current HOH, I will pick the first houseguest who will be competing."

The contestants looked at one another in anticipation, as Percival shoved his hand in the paper bag. The people who competed would change how likely each nominee was to get taken down. A few moments later, he pulled a slip of paper out and grinned as he read the name.

"Gwaine."

Arthur's shoulders shrugged when he heard that.

'_I'm fucked._' He thought, as a grinning Gwaine joined the others near the arm chairs.

Morgause was the next to pick a name and seemed equally happy with her choice.

"Morgana."

Arthur resisted the urge to grimace, as he got up to take a name out of the bag.

'_Lancelot, Lancelot, Lancelot._' He repeated in his head like a charm.

But the drop in his expression was far too obvious when he read the name.

"Freya."

The girl got up wordlessly and stood with the rest of the contestants. Arthur groaned inwardly.

'_I have absolutely no chance of winning this thing. No chance whatsoever._'

He looked at the remaining houseguests, a certain Merlin catching his eye. But even the sympathetic smile the dark haired man gifted him with could not make this better.

"The last thing I must do," Percival interrupted his chain of thoughts. "Is to pick another contestant to host the competition, as I, myself, will be competing."

Once again, he awkwardly shoved his hand in the bag and a small smirk graced his face when he read the name.

"Lancelot."

The blond grinned happily, taking the cue cards from Percival, as the Veto contestants went to change into their uniforms.

* * *

><p>Arthur grimaced as he put on the yellow sportswear.<p>

'_You couldn't have picked a worse person._' He thought. '_Even if she won it, I highly doubt she'd use it on you._'

"Hurry up guys!" Lancelot's voice interrupted his train of thought. He sighed as he pulled the shirt over his head and sprinted back to the living room. Once everyone had assembled, Lancelot read the first card.

"Before we go out and do the actual competition, each of the contestants will be called to the diary room."

Arthur rolled his eyes, this just got better and better. And, as if on cue...

"Would Arthur please come to the diary room."

"Son of a-"

The glare he received from Lancelot was enough to cut him off, so, out of respect for his friend, he made his way to the diary room in silence.

"Hello Arthur," The producer called pleasantly, obviously unaware of his dangerously bad mood. "We'd like you to make a few comments on the Veto competition, how you're feeling about it and whether or not you think you're going to be taken off the block."

He took a deep breath, trying to clear all of the profanity from his head. It didn't work.

"Well, so far, I'm feeling pretty shit, to be honest." He admitted freely, briefly wondering if his father would be watching. "All of the people in the competition, besides myself, would use the Veto on Morgause, if at all. So, given that fact, I'm not looking forward to this, not at all. If _I _don't win this competition, I could very well leave this week and, as you well know, that's not a fucking option."

The producer sighed before answering. "Thank you, Arthur. You can go now."

* * *

><p>Merlin's eyes were glued to Arthur's figure as he re-entered the room. He seemed fed up, as he slumped back in one of the red armchairs. He couldn't really blame him; things were looking pretty bad right now. He wondered, if just for a second, whether or not he should try and approach that man to comfort him. But he decided against it, Arthur was a big boy, he could cope on his own. Besides, he hadn't exactly acted like the greatest ally, let alone a friend.<p>

* * *

><p>Before too long, all of the contestants were ready and charging out to the garden to see what challenge they were met with. The rest of the houseguests followed behind, whispering between each other as to who they thought would win. It was a widely agreed fact that, should the competition be a physical one, like the HOH one, Percival would win. But, upon entering the garden, it became obvious that this competition would be vastly different from their last.<p>

It's probably easier, for now, if I explain what they would have seen from a birds-eye perspective, as this is the way it would be seen on television. If one were to look down on the scene from above, they would see a large female face, around five metres wide and eight metres long, with large blue eyes and dark hair. But this wasn't just any face; this face was covered in spots. The spots, from where the contestants stood, looked like mole hills almost. But, from above, they were just round circles, outlined in red and filled with disgusting yellow puss.

There were many cries of revulsion when they entered, so much so that they didn't take in the rest of the props. At the top of the face was a pedestal of sorts for Lancelot to stand behind and around the garden were six red boards. They looked like the contraptions that hold your letters in a game like scrabble and, thus, Merlin knew immediately that this wouldn't be a physical challenge.

After they'd got over just how disgusting the face was, with a few catty comment added in here and there by Vivian, Lancelot took his place and started reading.

"Will all of the contestants competing please stand by one of the red letter holders."

As they did so, Merlin and the remaining houseguests took a seat on the red bench that had been set up for them. As he sat down, Arthur caught his eye and, suddenly, he was subject to all the emotions Arthur was feeling. He shivered. Merlin didn't envy him at all right now.

"Okay, the aim of the game is to create the longest word by putting letters into the holders behind you." Lancelot read, taking a few moments every now and again to look at the competitors. "But how will you get the letters?"

Arthur rolled his eyes; he could only begin to imagine how they'd ramp up the tension on the aired version.

"You'll have to dig through the spots to find them."

Vivian immediately yelped. "But then you'll have to touch them!"

The others laughed at her, apart from Morgause, who looked absolutely repulsed at the idea of going anywhere _near _that face.

"You have two minutes to do so, starting..." Lancelot paused for effect. "Now."

* * *

><p>Arthur sprinted for the face and he reached it even before Percival. But he ignored the others, determined now to win, and dived for the nearest spot. A thin sort of skin had grown over the top that was easy enough to break but, once you got inside, the smell hit you, then it got difficult. It smelt like raw eggs, but felt like lumpy custard and, instinctively, he leaned back for a second, resisting the urge to throw up.<p>

'_Come, Arthur,_' He cheered himself on. '_Man up._'

He pushed through the awful smell and started searching desperately through the liquid. It was in his fingernails, on his legs and covered his hands by the time he got his first letter.

* * *

><p>Merlin watched with interest to see how each contestant handled the competition. Arthur, Percival and Gwaine were doing the best so far for sure. All had ran to the spots as quickly as possible and only hesitated for a moment once the smell hit them.<p>

'_It really is vile._' He thought, holding his nose.

Morgana and Morgause, on the other hand, had approached the face cautiously. Neither had found a letter yet and were still moaning about the smell. Morgana was absolutely petrified that the stuff would get into her dark hair, having forgotten to put it up, and so, she was forced to go as slowly as possible, flipping her hair from side to side to avoid it being tainted.

Merlin took a deep breath. '_Come on, Arthur,_' He thought. '_You can do it._'

But then his gaze was distracted by a small, pale figure, in the corner of his eye. He grinned.

'_Freya._'

The young woman was fast, amazingly fast and already had nine letters in her holder. But she didn't stop. The yellow, goopy liquid was in her hair, on her face and all over her clothes. But she didn't seem to care. Suddenly, Merlin found himself cheering for someone else.

* * *

><p>"You have thirty seconds left!" Arthur looked up as soon as he heard Lancelot speak.<p>

'_There's not enough time._'

He got up and sprinted back to his letter holder. Looking around, Freya had already finished and had put the cover over her letter holder, waiting for everyone else. Percival was still desperately searching for more letters, for he only had five on his holder. Gwaine was doing similarly, but Morgana and Morgause only had three between them. He grinned.

'_Maybe I can win this._'

It only took a few seconds of looking at his letters for him to create his word, pull down the cover and press his buzzer.

* * *

><p>"Okay, everyone stop!" Lancelot called and the frantic figures in the garden froze. "Everyone returns to your letter holders."<p>

Morgause shot Morgana a look of pure agony; she knew she was in trouble if she didn't win this. Merlin shuddered in excitement; Freya had done well, really well. She'd finished early, which could be a good sign, but also a bad one. Arthur seemed to have done well too and Percival was certainly a force to be reckoned with. All they could do was wait and see.

He looked around; Vivian was biting her nails, Elyan's hands had formed fists, Gwen looked like she was about to cry and Leon looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown. He looked back to Lancelot, everything came down to this. Any one of them could be put on the block if the power of Veto was used. He hoped to god that Freya had won.

"Okay, let's take a look at these words!" Lancelot sounded far too happy; he was, perhaps, the calmest of all of them. "Morgana, let's start with you."

She flushed, as she lifted the cover. "It was all I had enough letters for."

While most of the contestants felt embarrassed for her, upon seeing the measly 'A' sitting on her holder, Percival laughed openly and unabashedly. Morgause stared daggers at him, but managed to bite back her response.

When Percival's chuckles had trailed off, they continued. "Morgause, please reveal your word."

Unlike Morgana, she showed no shame at her feeble word, which turned out to be 'AN'. She merely folded her arms across her chest and sulked. Percival was clutching his stomach by now, but Lancelot was forced to ignore him and continue.

"Well done, Morgause, you are now in the lead with two letters."

Merlin bit his lip, was a part of him feeling sorry for the girl? He denied the feeling, reminding himself that it was her own fault that she was in this position, and watched as the results continued.

"Gwaine, it's your turn now."

He grinned, lifting the cover slowly "Well, I never was much good at English."

He laughed openly with everyone when, behind the cover, the word 'BOOBS' was waiting. Gwaine winked at Merlin, who couldn't help but grin back. It was nice when things like this happened, a light hearted moment in the depths of the dark dishonesty in the house. Even Lancelot, who usually tended to steer away from the constant innuendos and sexual references that flew all over the place when Gwaine was around, seemed amused by the outcome.

"Well done, Gwaine." He said between titters of laughter. "You are now in the lead with five letters!"

Gwaine grinned, as they moved on swiftly to the next contestant: Percival.

"Percival, you need more than five letters to take first place."

Percival smirked, pulling off the cover with ease to reveal the word 'DISHONEST'.

* * *

><p>Arthur scowled, how strangely fitting. But, on top of that, his hope fell, as he realised that Percival had the same number of letters as himself.<p>

An uncomfortable silence had swept over the contestant, which Lancelot was forced to break.

"Um... Well done, Percival." It sounded more like a question than a statement. "You are in the lead with nine letters now."

Lancelot turned to his teammate, giving him a hopeful look that Arthur just couldn't bring himself to return.

"Arthur, please reveal your word."

* * *

><p>Merlin held his breath as Arthur slowly lifted the cover.<p>

'_Do you want him to win?_' He wasn't quite sure how to answer that.

"My word," Arthur said, his voice shaking ever so slightly. "Is 'RETALIATE'."

Merlin's eyes squinted to count the letters and, once he had done so, couldn't decide if he was relieved or disappointed.

Lancelot smirked smugly, obviously happy to see that his clique mate had managed to match the HOH; after all he didn't want him to leave just yet.

"Arthur, you are tied in first place with Percival."

His gaze fell on the seemingly weak girl at the end. "Freya, can you beat nine letters?"

"Come on, Freya." Gwen whispered next to Merlin. He turned and smiled to her weakly as she clasped his hand. Her grip was tight and she was shaking, it was easy enough to see that she was as nervous as he.

'_Come on._' He egged on in his head.

Freya slowly lifted the cover, emotionless as always. As soon as the cover was gone, Merlin and Gwen leapt up in their seats.

For the first time, a genuine smile was seen on the dark haired girl's face. "My word is 'VICTORIOUS'."

Gwen squealed and ran to embrace Freya, Merlin close behind.

Lancelot seemed a little shell shocked, but spoke anyway. "Congratulations, Freya. You are our winner with ten letters!"

* * *

><p>Arthur looked on with disbelief, as Freya was glomped by her clique mates.<p>

'_How is this possible?_' He thought, resisting the urge to hold his head in his hands. He looked to Percival, whose expression was worth paying for and managed to force a grin.

'_Maybe it is better than the alternative._' Merlin caught his eye and he held the blue-eyed boy's gaze for a few seconds. '_Maybe._'

* * *

><p>Merlin was over the moon, this outcome was better than any that he'd anticipated. His clique was now in the limelight, they were in power. Even Percival forced himself to come over and shake hands with the victor. But, above the surface of being a great advantage, he was proud of Freya. She'd beaten everyone's expectations, including his own. Though he couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy when he looked at Arthur.<p>

The contestants trundled back inside, behind Freya, to wash off. All of them, except the Athletes, who went off to the HOH room. Merlin eyed them suspiciously.

'_Off to talk strategy I suppose._'

* * *

><p>Freya's victory sent the whole house reeling with worry. She was the anomaly, the wild card. No one expected her to win and no one knew what she'd do in that unlikely situation. The Off Beats hadn't shown much support for Arthur or Morgause, so it was a complete mystery as to how she would use the power.<p>

Percival, specifically, was furious. He wanted to be able to control this girl, to make her do what he wanted. But he didn't know how to do that. He'd barely spoken a word to the her, never mind Gwen or Merlin. None of his clique had, apart from Gwaine, and he wasn't about to trust him with a task as important as this. His fretting mind caused him to do something strange, something he wouldn't have done had he been in the right frame of mind.

Which is how Arthur found himself sitting, once again, in the HOH room with the entirety of the Athlete clique. His heart was still racing from the competition, his mind still confused as to what might happen now. He smirked, either way, it seemed like he was the one in power here.

Percival frowned. "We're worried."

'_No shit, Sherlock._'

"This girl, Freya, we have no idea what she's going to do."

Arthur raised an eyebrow, they were being unusually honest with him, making him more suspicious of whatever they were about to put to him.

"Which is why we've called you here." Percival admitted, looking at Arthur right in the eye from where he sat on his bed. "We want you to talk to her clique mates to get her to do what we want."

Arthur's smirk grew, so he _was_ the one in power here. The familiar feeling was pleasant and he knew he would certainly enjoy holding it over Percival while it lasted, the back-stabbing bastard.

"What do you _want _her to do?"

"We want to take someone down." Percival said. "And we want to put Leon up."

Arthur frowned. "And who will you take down?"

Percival spoke with a smirk now. "That depends."

"On what?"

"You."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arthur protested incredulously.

Percival sighed. "It means that, if you do your job properly, Freya will take you down."

"And what do I have to gain from this, apart from being taken down for eviction?"

Percival's mouth twitched, he obviously hadn't expected him to demand more. He shot a quick side glance to each of his team mates, who nodded timidly to him.

"We'll create an alliance with the Popular clique. Meaning that we won't target you, until you guys are the only ones left to target."

Arthur drew his breath sharply; this was an opportunity he couldn't miss, regardless of whether or not what Percival said was entirely true. Standing up, he grasped the strong man's hand and shook it.

"You've got yourselves a deal."

* * *

><p>The rest of the houseguests were downstairs, in the kitchen, happily chatting with one another.<p>

"You did really well, Freya." Merlin said to his clique mate. She nodded gratefully in response.

"It was a really tough challenge though." Morgana admitted, brushing her hand through her precious hair.

Morgause made a face. "That stuff was horrible; I can still smell it, even now."

"I'm so happy that I didn't have to do that one." Vivian shuddered.

They laughed at her genuine disgust. It was certainly had been one of the messier competitions.

Merlin grinned, this felt good. The Athletes, and Arthur, seemed to have locked themselves away. This feeling of power, of making such fierce competitors worried, uplifted him for the first time since he'd entered the house. Then again, those contestants could be making the strongest alliance seen so far in the game. Perhaps, he should be worried too.

Nothing else of note happened until much later in the evening. Freya had gone to bed fairly early, telling Gwen and Merlin that they'd 'discuss the matter at hand' in the morning. Most of the others had gone to bed too, all apart from Merlin. He was sitting in the living room, sketching in his book.

It'd been such a hectic day, but a good day too. His mind was reeling with what decision they might make tomorrow and what difference it might make to the game. The stressing was starting make him feel a little ill, so he'd decided to try and relax. That was, until a familiar figure stepped out of the darkness.

He smiled. "Arthur."

The blonde also forced a smile and came to sit beside him.

"More sketching?" He asked, steering away from the obvious conversation that would follow later.

Merlin nodded with a sigh. "I was trying to relax, but it's not coming very easily."

"May I?" Arthur asked, bending his head ever so slightly towards the sketch book as some sort of gesture.

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Merlin handed the black book over.

Arthur started from the beginning again, taking only a few seconds to look over the first pages, which he'd seen before. As he turned to the third page, he felt Merlin tense on the couch beside him. As he took in the A4 page spread of sketches, he smirked.

"You drew me."

Merlin nodded, his cheeks flushed.

Arthur grinned, filled with an unbelievable warm feeling that he wasn't familiar with. Every sketch, from the smallest to the biggest, gave him a strange pang of pride. Some of the sketches were very rough, some were abstract but, on the other hand, some were just plain beautiful.

He closed the book, passing it back to its owner and smiling widely. "Well, I'm honoured."

Merlin smiled back, still blushing. "I-I'm glad you like them."

"So," Arthur shifted in his seat, stretching his legs over the length of the couch, narrowly avoiding Merlin's lithe figure. "How does one make a living being an artist?"

Merlin sighed. "You don't really. I do lots of commission work, online and stuff. But, on top of that, I have a part time job as a housemaid to make ends meet."

Arthur smirked. "A housemaid?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Yes, a housemaid. I clean houses and stuff."

"Do you have a uniform?" He asked with a grin.

He was met by a sharp slap on the shoulder. "Get your mind out of the gutter, prat."

"Okay, okay!" He said, chuckling as he rubbed his now sore shoulder.

"How about you," Merlin changed the subject with ease. "What do you do?"

Arthur tensed; this was getting a little personal, but quickly covered his hesitation. "I'm a trained lawyer and I help my father out with his law firm."

"Let me guess," Merlin said with a grin. "Public school boy."

"Damn straight."

The laughed freely and Merlin started to feel happy that the blond haired man had come along. It was easy to be around him and, despite their clashing personalities; they seemed to get on well. Though it always bothered him that these moments only occured when they were on their own.

"Today was tough, right?" Arthur's tone sounded harmless enough, just as he'd intended.

Merlin sighed, hesitating to move into this territory. "I should be the one saying that to you."

"Hm." Arthur's reply was compliant enough, as his eyes wandered to the outside view, trying not to come on too strong. "I wasn't too surprised in the end though."

"Really?" Merlin looked at him with slight disbelief. "I was."

Arthur sighed. "What I mean is I wasn't surprised that I didn't win."

Merlin frowned. "Why?"

"Well, I only had one person on my side, didn't I?" He smiled weakly.

Merlin felt a twinge of guilt, he always had been a sucker for the underdog, but he tried to withhold his sympathy.

"It was a hard challenge." He smiled sympathetically to the other man. "But I'm sure it's not the end of the world."

"But it is." Arthur's quick reply caught him off guard. "I'm probably going home now."

Merlin awkwardly patted his companion on the shoulder. "I'm sure that's not true."

Arthur gave him his best puppy dog look. "Well, don't be surprised if I'm not here next week, unless..."

"Unless?" He had a bad feeling that he knew where this was going.

"Unless someone takes me down."

Merlin took a deep breath in. "You know that's not my choice."

"You know that's not true, Merlin."

Merlin sighed. "Look, it's Freya's decision."

Arthur paused, not wanting to push the matter too far.

"It doesn't matter." He said dismissively, though his intentions had already become far too clear.

'_We still have tomorrow before she decides anyway_.' He thought.

Merlin frowned, uncomfortable now. "I'm going to bed, don't stay up too late."

* * *

><p>Arthur sighed and let his head roll back, as he watched Merlin leave.<p>

'_Well done, Arthur._' He thought. '_That went well._'

He stood up to return to his room, rearranging the pillows on the couch.

He briefly wondered why it hadn't been easier. He'd got the impression that he had the dark haired man under his thumb, that he could control him. It was more than a mild surprise for him to find that he could not.

"Would Arthur please come to the diary room."

"For fuck's-" He kicked the couch, but was cut off when he stubbed his toe. He swore again under his breath, before making his way to the diary room.

'_They must've realised that I was still up._' He thought, pushing the door open and sitting on the black chair.

"Good evening, Arthur."

He grunted in response.

"We like you to comment on the outcome of the Veto competition and the agreement you've made with Percival."

He sighed, tired and confused.

"Obviously," He started, in a very matter of fact tone. "I was surprised, as was everyone else. I was worried given the outcome, as were the rest of the Athlete clique, as she seemed unpredictable. Which is exactly why I agreed to the alliance with Percival. I mean, who wants to go home in the first week?"

A long silence followed, the producers were obviously waiting for him to say more. It soon, however, became obvious that he would not.

"Okay, thank you, Arthur." They finally replied. "You may leave."

Arthur stumbled out sleepily and went back to bed.

* * *

><p>Merlin couldn't sleep much that night. His mind was still reeling from his conversation with Arthur.<p>

He knew he had a large amount of control over Freya and he knew that his opinion would be able to change the outcome greatly. But did he really want to take Arthur off the block? What could he gain from that?

'_An ally?' _He thought. '_More like a master._'

He wasn't about to let Arthur think that he could control him. He was in it to win this game, he wasn't about to aid another contestant unless it was for his own benefit. He wondered, for a moment, how Arthur might react to being evicted. The imagery triggered a pang of guilt inside him, an emotion he tried desperately to ignore.

He closed his eyes. Arthur was a strong player; there was no doubt about that. If he stayed, would he still be able to get him out later in the game? He wasn't so sure about that. What about Morgause? If she left, he would be happy. Then again, she wasn't a particularly strong competitor, so he'd probably be able to get her evicted later on if he needed to.

'_Okay,_' He tried to think about it rationally. '_So what if I took one of them down? Who would Percival put up in his or her place?_'

He had absolutely no idea about that. Who else could go up? Leon, perhaps, though Percival seemed to hold no grudge over their fight. Maybe Morgana, he seemed to be targeting that clique pretty well. He tensed.

'_Me?_'

But he had to shake that thought from his head quickly. Otherwise he wouldn't sleep at all.

* * *

><p>Arthur was up early the next morning and made his way into the living room at around 4AM, in the hope that a familiar figure might be sitting there. He was not alone when he entered the living room, but the man he was waiting for was not there.<p>

"Arthur!" The dark-skinned girl called his name, but he failed to recall her's. All he remembered was that she was the third member of the Off Beat clique and that was enough to satisfy him.

A hungry grin graced his lips, as he came to sit beside her. "Mornin'."

She nodded, obviously a little intimidated.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked, willing the déjà vu feeling away.

She nodded again, opened her mouth to speak, but had to clear her throat.

"Y-yeah," She finally stuttered, her voice quaked in his presence. "J-just nervous, I g-guess."

He sighed dramatically, his gaze wandering to the ceiling. "Me too."

He could feel her gaze on him as she spoke. "You'll be fine."

He met her chocolate brown eyes, forcing her into the eye contact.

"How do you know?" He whispered, forcing a weak smile on his face.

Arthur was not unfamiliar with manipulating woman to get what he wanted. He was twenty six and had his fair share of girlfriends in his time. It hadn't taken him long to realize that the good looks he'd been blessed with could be used to influence most woman, and some men, to do whatever he wanted, whether that was sex, gifts or money. Perhaps that was what had been so difficult with Merlin; he seemed oblivious to his physical appearance. But this was a woman and no woman had ever resisted him.

Gwen took a laboured breath in. "Don't worry, I'm sure."

He smirked on the inside, but hid it with a sweet smile. "You're too kind."

And that was enough to convince him. Soon enough, he made his excuses and left a rather flushed Gwen with her thoughts.

* * *

><p>Merlin was shaken awake by Guinevere at around 8AM the next morning.<p>

"Merlin, Merlin." Her bothersome repetition was hushed, so as not to disturb Lancelot, who was sleeping soundly in his own bed. "Merlin, wake up."

He sighed and wiped his eyes, before sitting up. "What is it?"

The wide grin on her face said it all. "I think Arthur likes me."

He raised a cryptic eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"What makes you think so?"

Her grin dropped. "Merlin, I _know _when a boy's flirting with me."

A twinge of pain hit him, a pain he couldn't name. "Whatever." He brushed it off, pulling his duvet covers back over himself. "Let me go back to sleep."

Gwen merely laughed. "Okay, okay."

He held his breath until he finally heard the door shut once again.

'_Why are you so critical of her?_' He wondered. '_She's a pretty girl, what makes you think that Arthur wouldn't think so too?_'

He sighed, this was getting complicated. If Gwen fell for the enemy and, at this point, he was fairly sure that Arthur _was _the enemy. Why else would he be trying to use him just hours after he was locked up with Percival?

'_What will we do?_'

* * *

><p>It was around 10AM when Gwen, Freya and Merlin finally sat down together. Freya had been briefed in the diary room that her decision must be made by 10PM that evening, but would not be revealed until the next day. They had decided to have a short discussion that morning, but would not make any definite choice until the afternoon.<p>

"I'd like to say this upfront:" Freya began, surprising the two of them with her boldness. "I want this decision to be made by all of us, for the good of us as a team, not as individuals."

Gwen and Merlin looked at each other, shocked by her generosity. Suddenly they were both glad that they had been provided a separate room for discussion.

"However," Freya continued. "I would like to make a pact now, with both of you, that we stick together for as long as possible."

It was then that Merlin realised just how similar they were. Her tactics seemed to be the same as his, except she'd actually convicted them properly. She had laid low and tricked everyone into thinking she was weak, but here they were. She'd won their second competition, out of the blue, shocking everyone. He smiled, feeling a newfound fondness for the girl.

"I'm up for that."

Gwen nodded. "Me too."

Freya nodded. "Great. Let's get on with this then."

"I'd like to point out," Merlin began, remembering his thoughts from the night before. "That, if we decide to use this, we need to take into account who Percival might put up in their place and whether or not we believe we'll be able to get rid of whoever we keep later in the game."

Gwen nodded. "I agree with that, but we also have to consider the enemies we'll make, depending on what we do."

"Remember, though," Freya chipped in. "I am immune to eviction, which means I can't be nominated. Most of the others will probably assume that this was my decision and, if they ask, I'll say that you guys had nothing to do with it. So it doesn't matter, at least for now, what people think"

Gwen shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to be careful."

"I think we should all say, right now, just on gut instinct, what we think should do." Merlin said. "It doesn't have to be a final decision, but at least we'll get an idea of all our first impressions."

Freya nodded. "I think that's a good idea, why don't you start, Gwen?"

Said girl shifted in her seat, flushing slightly. "I think we should save Arthur."

"Gwen," Merlin said softly, trying to hold back the sarcasm. "You can't let your personal feelings influence this."

Her blush was renewed. "I-I know. Just think about it: Percival and the Athletes obviously want to keep him in, I mean, they were locked up in that HOH room for long enough. I don't think it would be wise to anger someone like Percival, he's too strong a competitor."

"She has a point." Freya mused. "We might be able to make an ally of him too."

'_That's what I've been __**trying **__to do._'

"But, Freya," Merlin pleaded. "Although he'd be good as an ally, are you really so certain that we'd be able to get him out by ourselves? Shouldn't we take this opportunity while Percival presents it?"

"Why are you so keen for him to go?" Gwen accused.

'_I'm not!_' He screamed in his head.

"I-I," He cleared his throat, trying to hide his shaking voice. "I just think we need to think about all the factors in play here."

"I understand what you're trying to say," Freya backed him up, not daring to look at the currently fuming Gwen, instead keeping her gaze on the nearby coffee table. "Arthur would be a strong ally, but he's also a strong enemy. None of us are going be friends forever."

Gwen folded her arms and sat back in her seat, sulking silently.

Merlin rolled his eyes, before Freya spoke again.

"Despite that, I think we should take Arthur down too." She admitted, smiling sympathetically to Gwen, who forced a similar expression back in appreciation. "I think Morgause is a more formidable competitor than you guys think and our relations with the clique as a whole will probably still be good, even if we choose not to take her down. I mean, you both get on well with Morgana and Leon anyway, plus the Athletes and Populars wouldn't be out to get us because we'd have done what they wanted."

Merlin sighed, were they really thinking this through? Freya gestured for him to speak. He sighed again.

"I think we should do nothing." His tone was blank, no fluctuation in his voice and something in him wondered when he'd become so ruthless.

"Well," Freya stood up from where she sat. "I think we've discussed this enough, for now. If we spend too long in here they'll think that we've already made a decision."

They nodded in agreement and got up to leave in silence.

* * *

><p>When Arthur saw the strange trio re-enter the kitchen, he felt his whole body go tense once again. He briefly caught Merlin's eye, trying desperately to find some answers there. He found none and saw only confusion. His eyes followed the figure as it left the room once again.<p>

'_You are the strangest person I have ever met._' He thought. '_And yet, I feel some abnormal pull towards you._'

He forced such thoughts from his mind, trying to concentrate on the issue at hand. What had gone on in that room? He was determined to find out.

* * *

><p>Barely two minutes after they'd come out of their private room, Merlin was called into the diary room. He'd gone without much fuss, for the first time ever, but only because he had nothing else to do.<p>

"Good morning, Merlin." That producer always sounded far too happy. "Today we'd like you to talk about the discussion with your clique and your relationship with Arthur."

He scowled at the very mention of his name, but knew that refusing to answer would look worse than the reply he had in mind. He sighed.

"I feel," He started. "That Gwen is allowing her emotions to influence her decisions. If she's really serious about this competition, all of her moves need to be strategic and nothing more. Anything else is a bonus and that's how it should be viewed. Freya, on the other hand, is thinking about the whole situation with a clear mind, though I am still unsure as to whether I agree with the two of them."

He paused. "I must admit that I was surprised by Freya's decision to take all of our opinions into account, but pleasantly so. It will definitely be of help to me in the game, though I'm still not certain of what she has to gain from it."

"I also understand," He continued, leaning back in his seat. "That it must be weird for the public to see me talking to Arthur so normally one day and then trying to send him home the next. I'd like to, again, say that all of my conversations with him have been purely strategic, no matter what personal gain I've got from them."

'_Yeah, keep telling yourself that._'

"O-kay." The producer unnecessarily lengthened their reply. "You may go now."

* * *

><p>Arthur was feeling pretty good about Freya's decision, truth be told. Gwen, no matter how easy to manipulate, didn't seem like a liar. It had become perfectly obvious, over the last couple of days, that she was completely enamoured with Arthur and he couldn't help but feel glad that he finally had someone so easily under his control. Merlin had created a unnecessarily frustrating ordeal for him and, at this point, he couldn't care less. He had Gwen now, right?<p>

"Would Arthur please come to the diary room."

He sighed, but left out the usual profanity. Somehow he made it all the way to the black leather chair without uttering a single curse. However, the producers seemed to sense his silent impatience.

"This will be the last time you're called to the diary room today, I assure you." He said, causing Arthur to relax a little more. "All we want you to do is to comment on how you're feeling, at this point, about the decision Freya will be making tonight."

Arthur smirked. "I feel fine, good in fact. Gwen's pretty much told me that I'm being taken down and, even if I'm not at this point, I'm pretty sure she could change Freya's mind. Merlin... Merlin I'm not so sure about."

He trailed off, hoping to get out of there quickly.

"... Care to elaborate?"

The request shocked him; they'd never done such a thing before, usually they just did what they could with what you gave them. He was beginning to feel a little suspicious about their interest in his relationship with the young man, but he ignored the idea and recovered quickly.

"Well, Merlin hasn't been as... easy to manipulate as Gwen, let's put it that way. Really, it only makes me more aware of him as a competitor. He's stubborn and ridiculously noble, or, at least, that's the act he's been putting on. Regardless, I'm not too worried about him."

"Okay," They seemed happy enough with that. "You may leave now."

'_How long are you going to keep this up?_' He asked himself as he left. '_How long are you going to pretend that you don't genuinely like the boy?_'

He shuddered, had he said such a thing out loud, people were sure to take it out of context.

* * *

><p>At around 8PM that evening, the Off Beat trio sat down together once again, with only two hours to make a final decision.<p>

Merlin, who had been dwelling on the subject most of the day, was feeling less and less sure about the decision the girls seemed intent on making. He was torn between a natural connection with the blonde and the obvious strong tactical move of getting rid of him. He sighed; he was already pretty sure of what the outcome would be.

"I'd just like to start by saying," Gwen began, sitting down on the couch. "That my view on the matter hasn't changed."

Merlin scowled, Gwen's feelings for Arthur were beginning to bother him. The girl was besotted with him, but only because she'd never looked close enough to see the true Arthur. The Arthur that would use her and control her and betray her as he saw fit. No, Merlin narrowed his eyes, he still didn't trust the man one bit.

Freya sighed. "I have to agree with Gwen, Merlin. We have to make a move, doing nothing will make us look weak. A worthless ally and a worthless enemy."

"Well, it sounds like you guys have already made your minds up." He concluded, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Gwen frowned. "You can't deny that it would have its advantages."

"What, like getting in the enemy's pants?"

His cutting remark shocked Gwen and, equally, shocked himself. He opened his mouth to apologise, when Freya cut in.

"There's no need for that, Merlin." She scolded. "We have to stick together and make this choice as a team."

He sighed, he didn't have much choice anymore, this was two on one. "Okay, let's do it then."

Gwen looked excited. "Really? You mean it."

Merlin couldn't help but grin back. "Yeah, let's save the prat."

* * *

><p>Freya revealed her decision in the diary room, bang on 10PM. But no one would know her choice until the next day. As she exited the diary room, she caught Arthur's eye and smiled. It was more than enough to satisfy Arthur and reassure him of Gwen's words. Minutes later, once he was sure Freya had gone; he sprinted up to HOH room, knocked on the door and entered after hearing the sound of the door unlocking.<p>

"Arthur?" Percival seemed surprised to see him, but still gestured for him to sit down. It was a rare moment to catch the man on his own, but Arthur was happy that he had done so.

"What can I help you with?"

Arthur smirked. "It's done."

Percival looked at him in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

* * *

><p>Merlin knew he wouldn't sleep that night so, rather than tossing and turning in bed, he escaped to the living room. He could've said that he was surprised when a blond-haired figure came to join him on the couch, but he'd be lying. The interruptions were so frequent now; he practically expected them and was almost disappointed when they didn't occur. But not today.<p>

He scowled at the smirking man. "What do you want?"

"Wow, grumpy." The smirk merely grew. "That time of the month, eh?"

"Wow, original." He countered, attempting to ignore his companion and get on with his sketching. The man was starting to get on his nerves, with all the secret looks when they were in public and then acting as if there was nothing strange about their interactions when they were alone. He knew the blond was using him and, yet, he'd done nothing.

Arthur's smirk finally dropped into a slight frown. "What's wrong?"

Merlin sighed, as he stood up and walked away. "Nothing, nothing at all."

* * *

><p>Merlin was pissed off. He wasn't happy about the decision, despite giving it his backing and he was annoyed that he still felt he had made no progress with Arthur. It had become perfectly obvious, that day, that Arthur was looking to control him, not aid him. What use was an 'ally', like that?<p>

'_You'll have to be more wary of him._' He told himself and yet, he knew that, if the blond approached him, he'd find it hard to walk away. He sighed.


	5. Days Seven and Eight

**Well, here we are again!**

**Firstly, I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone! Even if this is the first time you've found this fic, thank you! I had such a massive response to the last chapter, I was shocked. We had well over 400 hits in one night and 100-200 for the** **following days. In addition, we got twice as many reviews and a good deal more story alerts. So, once again, I'd like to thank you all.**

**Secondly, I regret to tell you that I'm anticipating that my updates will be a good deal slower after this chapter. I'm just about to enter a brutal period of exams, lasting about a month and a half. After that, I'll be updating like crazy. In addition, to keep me calm, I'll put aside an hour or two every week to write. So there may be some updates, but not many.**

**If you're interested to see how the next chapter's coming along, just check my profile. I update it regularly depending on how the chapters are going.**

**Next, though there is very little of it here, I'd like to tease you by saying that, next chapter, we'll be seeing some more Merthur-esque interaction. So you can all look forward to that~!**

**If any of you have requests, I'm always willing to take them into account. So, if you have ideas, just say!**

**This chapter I've given some hints, just a few, as to how the general public is interpreting the relationship between the two so far.**

**Anyway, enjoy this chapter!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>The first eviction was to be a massive event, more massive than the inmates knew. The ratings had skyrocketed after nominations and the producers were determined to reel in even more viewers. To do so, they knew they had to ramp up their game and were more than prepared to manipulate the contestants based on what their audience wanted to see.<p>

All of the contestants woke up early, many had got up in the middle of the night and many more hadn't slept at all. There were a few visits to the diary room, but not many, as most of them didn't have anything to say. Much of their time was spent in silence and, the closer they got to their first eviction, the more obvious the divides in the house became. The Populars were backing Arthur, the Brains were backing Morgause and, though nothing outright had been said, it was widely understood that the Athletes would also back Arthur. The real subject charging the tension was who might be forced into being nominated at the last minute.

The contestants did little more than worry upon the matter all day and so, it seems rather pointless to dwell on that period of time. For this reason, we shall skip forward considerably, to around 5PM that evening.

The eviction, being live, was to start at six and, currently, all of the houseguests were packing their things. Any one of them could be going home that night, depending on what Freya did with the power of Veto, and every one of them had been told to be prepared to be evicted. Due to this, Merlin and Gwen were currently sitting side by side in their room, slowly folding clothes and fetching various possessions.

"I'm so excited!" The coffee-skinned girl exclaimed, a huge grin on her face.

Merlin frowned. "Why on earth would you be 'excited'?"

Her cheeks were tinged red. "I just can't wait to see the look on Arthur's face once he gets taken off the block."

Merlin couldn't resist rolling his eyes when the girl wasn't looking.

"Aren't you nervous?" He asked, after a short pause.

She shrugged. "Not really."

He shivered. He was envious of her; he was terrified. There was no way he'd rest until he knew, for sure, that he wasn't going home and he wouldn't know that until, potentially, one of his friends got sent home.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, Arthur was sitting in the HOH room with the Athlete clique.<p>

"And you're sure?" Percival asked him, for what seemed like the hundredth time. "You're absolutely positive?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Yes! Look, I'm the one who should be worrying, not you."

Percival sighed. "You better be right, Pendragon. You better be right."

* * *

><p>At 6PM they took their seats, the tension rising with every second. They sat in silence, a few whispers escaping here and there, though most were lost in their thoughts. Mere moments later, the TV screen jumped to life.<p>

"Good evening houseguests!" The blonde presenter was back with a new sense of vigour. "It's been a while since we last saw you but, unfortunately, tonight, one of you _will _be leaving the big brother house."

Merlin shot side glances at his clique mates, Gwen and Freya smiled weakly to him. The very thought of one of his friends leaving made him feel physically sick but he managed to keep his game face on.

"After the break," Merlin rolled his eyes and he was far from the only one. "We'll be finding out if any of our current nominees will be taken off the block."

The houseguests were left in their silence, as the live audience's cheers were heard faintly in the background.

* * *

><p>"Before we return to the contestants," The presenter spoke to the live audience only now. "We're going to look back on the week and the couple that have been driving you guys nuts."<p>

* * *

><p>After nearly ten minutes, the television in the living room turned itself back on and all of the contestants sat up straight in their seats.<p>

"Hello again, houseguests!" Her faux smiles were starting to get on Merlin's nerves. "It's time to find out Freya's decision!"

Freya, instinctively, stood up to face the screen, making sure she was close enough to the microphone that was invisible to the audience.

"Hey, Freya!"

The pale girl forced a smile. "Good evening."

"Congratulations on your win!" The presenter didn't seem to care about her cool response and continued in trying to get her to come out of her shell. "How are you feeling right now?"

Somehow, Freya managed to stay fairly emotionless. "I'm feeling great." It was almost comical to see the contrast between her expressions and her words. It made Merlin question whether or not she did it on purpose.

A short silence followed, as it became obvious that Freya wouldn't let this blonde nuisance get much out of her.

"So, are you ready to reveal your decision?"

Freya nodded silently.

* * *

><p>Arthur held his breath, locking his gaze with Percival's for a few seconds. This was the moment of truth. If he'd got this right, he'd be on top of the world. He shivered as he took in Freya's slow movements.<p>

Freya turned from the screen, in her first confident gesture, to face Arthur and gave him a surprisingly genuine smile. "I'm using the power of Veto to save Arthur."

Suddenly, it was like a huge weight being lifted off his shoulders. He stood up, a huge dorky grin on his face and embraced the girl, whispering his thanks in her ear. She merely continued smiling and returned his hug fairly awkwardly. The two of them rejoined the rest of the houseguests as Percival stood.

* * *

><p>Merlin sneaked a look at Arthur, he was still smiling. Before the blond man noticed his stare, he looked away again, trying to ignore his ridiculous awareness of the man now sitting next to him.<p>

'_It's done now,_' Merlin told himself with a deep breath. '_It's over._'

But really, it had just begun.

"Percival," The presenter onscreen spoke with a knowing smirk on her face. "As current HOH, you may now pick a replacement nominee."

Percival turned around to face the remaining contestants with a small smirk on his face, eyes roaming across all of the people around him. Merlin felt a shiver go down his spine as he did. And then he spoke.

"I nominate Leon."

Said man stood up quickly, almost as if he'd been expecting this outcome. He was extremely detached, as he passed Percival, declining the offered handshake, to take Arthur's place in the second red armchair. A small frown began to show as the corners of his mouth curved downwards.

Merlin wasn't surprised, per say, it was always going to be a likely outcome, but that didn't mean he wasn't upset. He stole a glance at Morgana, who looked like she was about to cry.

'_Regardless of who leaves,_' He thought. '_She's losing a teammate tonight._'

Merlin smiled to her sympathetically, as Gwen took her hand. Gwen looked equally shocked, perhaps she wasn't aware of the argument the two men had. Regardless, it seemed unfair that a man as genuinely nice as Leon could possibly be leaving this evening.

'_Then again,_' Merlin reminded himself. '_This game isn't about being nice._'

* * *

><p>"And now," The presenter's words were, once again, directed at the live audience. "It's time to find out who's going home. One by one, the contestants will cast their votes as to who they want to evict."<p>

She turned to another camera, as the TV screen in the living room turned on once again.

"Voting will now begin." She said calmly. "Will Percival please come to the diary room to cast his vote."

Percival got up, shooting a small smirk at Leon.

'_No prizes for guessing who he's going to vote for._' Merlin thought with a small frown.

Just moments later, the broad shouldered man sat down on the familiar black leather chair. During voting, the diary room would be private and the contestant's votes only broadcast to the watching audience. This allowed those who might wish to betray the trust of their team mates. Merlin doubted that Percival would change his mind though.

"Percival," The presenter smiled to the former wrestler. "Who will you vote for?"

"I vote to evict Leon." There was no hesitation in his voice and no doubt about the decision he was making.

"Thank you, Percival."

He got up and returned to the living room, a large smirk on his face.

"Gwen, please come to the diary room to cast your vote."

The dark skinned girl chewed on her lip, as she left the room. It wasn't a hard choice to make, but a choice that she doubted would make any difference to the final outcome.

"Gwen, please cast your vote."

She looked into the camera hesitantly. "I vote to evict Morgause."

"Thank you, Gwen."

The woman sighed before getting up and rejoining her friends, finally beginning to realise just how unpredictable this game was going to be.

"Elyan, please come to cast your vote."

There was no doubt in anyone's minds, as the quiet man left, that he would be voting with Percival. No doubt, Gwaine would be the same also and, true to form, the both of them, one after the other, sat down and said the same exact words.

"I vote to evict Leon."

And still, they both came out smiling and high-fiving when they rejoined Percival.

"Merlin," The man jerked in his seat at the sound of his name. "Please come to the diary room."

With shaking legs, he got up and left, eyes glued to the carpet, for fear he'd lock eyes with a certain someone.

"Merlin," The presenter aided the situation little. "Who will you vote to evict?"

He took a deep breath, but his whole body was still quaking with fear. "I vote to evict Morgause."

"Thank you, Merlin."

And then it was all over, he went back to the living room feeling much calmer, but not any happier. Not at all. He looked at the people around him, wondering if they had the numbers to save Leon. His breath was laboured, as the unwanted realisation that they did not hit him. All they could hope for now was that someone, someone actually _with _a conscience, would vote against the Athletes. Merlin couldn't deny the hope he felt when his eyes locked with a certain blond man's every now and again.

"Freya," The pale girl looked up at the sound of her name. "Please come and cast your vote."

"So," The presenter spoke almost as soon as she sat down. "Who will you vote for?"

She kept her voice as emotionless as she could, but she couldn't hide everything. "I vote to evict Morgause."

There was something inside her, despite her efforts to remain unattached, that felt that having someone like Leon leaving now was fundamentally wrong. Morgause had ruined her chances by herself, it was no one's fault but her own. It was time for her to face the mustic.

Soon enough, Freya was back with her clique and Morgana's name was called. Gwen gave her a hug just before she left, they all knew what a hard decision it would be for her to make.

The tears started as soon as she was asked who she wanted to evict, but she still, somehow, managed to speak.

"I vote," She stuttered through sobs and hiccups. "To evict Leon."

The sooner she got out of that room, the better and she tried desperately to wipe her eyes before she re-entered the living room, all to no avail though.

Vivian was called next and her answer was no surprise.

"I vote to evict Leon."

There were only two votes left now: Arthur's and Lancelot's. At the moment, Leon was leaving with five votes to Morgause's three. But if Lancelot and Arthur both voted for Morgause to leave, it would be a tie. Everything came down to this next vote, if the next person voted for Leon to leave, he was gone.

"Would Arthur please come to the diary room to cast his vote."

And it was always going to be Arthur, wasn't it?

The young blond barely listened to the presenter when he sat down, this was a big decision and he needed to take everything into account when making it. He could vote with the Athletes and cement their alliance or do what he honestly wanted to do and save a man he greatly respected. But, in the end, he didn't have much choice. If he was serious about winning this competition, there was only one thing to do.

"I vote to evict Leon."

As Arthur left the room, the presenter turned back to the live audience.

"So, Leon's going home! But where will the last vote lie?"

She turned back to Lancelot as he sat down.

"Lancelot," She smiled to the handsome male. "Who will you vote to evict?"

He sighed. "To be honest, I don't really have a choice. I vote to evict Leon."

* * *

><p>After a completely and utterly unnecessary break, the presenter returned to the houseguests, who were still sitting in silence. No one attempted to speak because there was nothing left to say. Everyone had seemed to have forgotten, over the last few days, that this was a game and that, each and every week, another person would be forced to leave. It wasn't easy, it wasn't fun. This process was going to be stressful, demeaning and painful. For some reason, they'd only realised it properly now.<p>

The presenter appeared back on the screen. "Okay, it is time to reveal the first houseguest who will be evicted from the Big Brother house."

A long silence followed, a silence that would surely be backed by some kind of tension-building music in the aired version of the show. The houseguests were granted no such privilege on their live set.

"With a vote of seven to three..." Merlin looked at his friends and willed the outcome away. They knew what was coming, the most undesirable outcome he could imagine.

"Leon, you are evicted from the Big Brother house."

* * *

><p>The man instinctively stood up, smiling weakly to his friends. He grabbed his suitcase, hugged his teammates, shook Merlin's hand and walked out of the front door in silence, as Morgana dissolved into tears.<p>

His exit was abrupt, but seemingly appropriately so. Merlin couldn't help but feel that this wasn't how it was supposed to go, as if, somehow, they'd strayed from the path of how these events were _supposed_ to unfold. But that was just the way it was now. He stole a glance at Percival, who was currently grinning wildly, like a dog who'd just caught and killed his first rabbit.

'_He wanted him gone,_' Merlin thought. '_And now he's gone._'

Suddenly, it became even more obvious how important it was to be in a position of power here.

* * *

><p>As soon as Leon had left, the whole house seemed to have gone quiet. Percival and the Athletes were celebrating in the HOH room, Gwen was comforting Morgana and Merlin was sitting in the living room. Just sitting and thinking.<p>

'_He didn't deserve to go home._' He thought, resting his chin between his knees. '_But I suppose that's just how it goes._'

He had to admit, he still didn't quite understand what advantage Percival had achieved in getting rid of someone like Leon. Other than a personal grudge being fulfilled, what else was there to gain by eliminating the man? At least getting rid of Arthur made some sense. Merlin sighed. He'd never get used to this; he was certain of that at least.

* * *

><p>On the outside of the house, Leon had been greeted by screaming crowds and flashing lights. He'd high-fived god knows how many people upon his entrance, his suitcase still trailing behind him, until he'd taken his place beside the blonde presenter for his interview.<p>

She smiled sympathetically to the man sitting beside her. "My consolations to you, Leon. But, forgive me for saying this, you don't seem too upset about your eviction."

He shrugged and managed a smile. "I half expected it, coming out was sort of a relief."

She nodded as if she understood. "So, during your seven day stay in the house, who would you say your friends were?"

"Well, not Percival, that's for sure." He joke was met with laughter. "But, uh, definitely Morgana. She was an amazing woman and a brilliant team mate. I got on quite well with Lancelot too, surprisingly. The guys in the Off Beat clique, in general, were pleasant too."

"On a more serious note," The presenter started, a small smirk playing on her pink lips. "What do you think led to your downfall?"

He sighed. "Probably the argument with Percival. He was an extremely volatile man and I think he disliked me from the start, the disagreement we had just gave him a real excuse to start targeting me."

"And, just quickly, what were your favourite parts of being in the house?"

"Just the constant noise," He grinned again. "I know that sounds weird, but I'm living on my own at the moment and I'm already positive that my small flat will feel too quiet now that I'm out."

"Now, your eviction will, I'm sure, come a quite a surprise to many people, as I'm sure it did to you." Her interviewing style wasn't very logical, nor was it particularly unique. "What sort of alliances do you think were going on behind your back that aided Percival in nominating you at the last minute?"

His grin faded. "Well, it's obvious now that Arthur had some sort of connection to the Off Beat's, on top of his alliance with the Athletes. To be honest, I think Arthur, at this point, is the only deadly serious competitor."

"Do you think that he'll win?"

Leon frowned. "Yes. But I don't want him too."

"Okay, now, we'd like to discuss further with you how you think the other contestants have been received outside the house."

He nodded. "Sure."

She smiled back sweetly. "Who do you think is the most popular houseguest?"

He sat back in his seat, thinking it over. "I'd say Morgana or Gwen probably; they're some of the nicer people in the house, anyway."

"And, do you think," She pushed, a mysterious glint showing in her blue eyes. "That there have been any hints of romance in the house?"

He laughed. "No, definitely not. But I think it'll be interesting to see how the relationships develop over the coming weeks."

"I think it'll be a good for you to take a look at the aired episodes of the past week to see what was going on when you weren't looking."

He frowned slightly, intrigued but curious at the prospect, though unwilling to say any more.

"Well, thank you, Leon." The presenter rounded off, standing up to face the camera. "That's all for now, tune in tomorrow at 10:00PM to see who the new HOH will be. Thanks for watching!"

* * *

><p>Arthur was delighted with the outcome of eviction. Things couldn't have gone better! And now, he was exactly where he wanted to be: in the HOH room, drinking champagne with his allies.<p>

"Well done, Pendragon," Percival had praised him. "You did well."

He grinned. "Thanks."

It was, he supposed, a shame that Leon had to leave but Percival seemed thrilled and, for now, that was enough. He was still in the game and determined to win the HOH tomorrow. And now, he had an entire alliance behind him, supporting him if he failed.

After a few hours of drinking, he'd stumbled back down to his cold room, snuggled into a blanket and slept properly for the first time in days.

* * *

><p>The next day, everyone seemed to have calmed down considerably. Yes, Leon was gone, but the rest of them were still here and it was about time they reminded themselves that they were still individuals in this game. Besides, it was a new day and today, a new HOH would be chosen. It was the chance for someone new to seize power, for new stakes to be set and Merlin couldn't wait.<p>

At around 7AM, he had left his room to grab a quick breakfast. The HOH competition was starting at 9AM, so they didn't have as much time as usual. In the kitchen, a number of the houseguests were already sitting.

"G'morning." Merlin yawned through his greeting.

Morgana smiled weakly, slightly red eyed, but much happier than on the previous evening.

"You okay?"

She nodded and her smile widened. "I'm ready to win that HOH."

He laughed.

* * *

><p>The noise had woken Arthur at around 8.30AM, when he suddenly realised how little time he had. Perhaps drinking and staying up late hadn't been such a good idea. He had jumped out of his bed, after catching sight of the digital clock in the corner of his eye. He'd glugged down a glass of orange juice in record time, showered, shaved and got dressed in about 25 minutes, before joining the rest of the houseguests in the living room.<p>

There was a collective buzz that everyone seemed to be feeling, an excitement that had easily replaced the mourning many had felt for Leon's unexpected departure. Depending on who won this next HOH, the game could change into something entirely different. You just had to hope that any enemies you might have didn't get the power.

When Percival stood up to speak, everyone shut up much quicker than usual; unbelievably eager to see what would happen.

"If you'd all follow me out into the garden," Percival didn't look too happy; after all, he couldn't compete in this competition and thus it was out of the question that he would be HOH again this week. "We can start the competition."  
>The houseguests followed, one after the other, into the garden, whispering and giggling and shaking with excitement.<p>

Once again, the garden had been dressed to impress. A large banner saying 'Prom' was hanging from the windows and spread across the entire width of the garden. The buildings and walls surrounding the garden were covered in red drapes and the floor was covered with wood decking. As they explored further, they saw that there were, on the right, four speech stands, one dedicated to each clique. On the left, another one stood for the presenter to stand on.

Percival took his place on the podium on the far left and started reading from his cue cards, as the houseguests fell silent.

"Welcome to your Big Brother Prom," He didn't sound that enthusiastic. "In this challenge, the last man standing will be the new HOH. Will each clique please stand behind their podium, so we can begin the game."

The houseguests did as they were asked, buzzing with anticipation for what was to come.

'_I can do this,_' Arthur thought, standing besides Lancelot and Vivian. '_I have to do this. It's my turn to win._'

"We like to call this game, 'Most Likely To..." Percival continued, not waiting for the houseguests to be silent. "In each round, one person from each clique will step up to the podium to try and answer a question by hitting their buzzer first. These questions are based on a survey conducted this year and the answer will always be either Populars, Brains, Off Beats or Athletes. If you get a question right, you stay in the game and get to eliminate another contestants competing in that round. If you get a question wrong, you are immediately expelled from the game."

Percival paused and looked up at the contestants. "Are you ready?"

'_Come on Merlin,_' the dark haired man cheered himself on. '_This is no physical competition. You can do this easily._'

Of course, it wouldn't have be a loss, as such, for one of his other teammates to win too. Still, he'd rather win it himself. You couldn't trust anyone in this competition, not entirely. He'd only be able to guarantee his safety if _he _won HOH.

'_And, what's more,_' He thought. '_It's time to prove myself._'

"Will the first contestants please step up to their stands."

Merlin stepped up for the Off Beats, Morgause for the Brains, Gwaine for the Athletes and Vivian for the Populars.

"Okay, let's get started."

Merlin left his hand hovering just above the giant red buzzer, trying to ignore the well intentioned encouragement that Gwen was whispering behind him. He eyed the other competitors; the Brains would be the ones to watch in this competition. Then again, you didn't have to answer questions right to stay in the game. If he seemed too much of a threat, he'd be eliminated in a second.

He took a deep breath; this was more complicated that it seemed to be on the surface.

"Who did our interviewees think was most likely to skip school because they had a zit?"

His hand came down on his buzzer like a ton of bricks.

"Merlin, what is your answer?"

He took a deep breath before replying. "The Populars."

"That is correct," Percival smirked. "Who would you like to eliminate?"

Merlin looked quickly over the contestants in that round and answered on instinct. "I'm eliminating Morgause."

She narrowed her eyes at him and stepped down. It was a decent move though; she was in the Brains after all. As Merlin stepped down from the podium, he sighed in relief. His team mates praised him, before Gwen stepped up to compete in the next round with Arthur, Elyan and Morgana.

"Question two," Percival wasn't really leaving much time for interaction between questions. "Which clique did the majority in our survey think was most likely to misspell the world 'encyclopaedia'?

Morgana hit her buzzer first, no surprised there, with a wild grin on her face.

"Morgana?"

"The Athletes."

"That is correct," Percival congratulated her insincerely. "Who would you like to eliminate?"

She sent the dark-skinned girl a sympathetic smile. "Gwen."

The brunette cursed as she stepped down from the podium, to sit on the red loser's bench. Merlin's heart sank, was it so hard to stay in the competition a little longer?

'_Don't be mean, Merlin,_' He told himself. '_It wasn't her fault._'

Freya competed in the next round with Morgana, Lancelot and Gwaine.

"Question three," Percival started, the little energy he had shown now wavering. "Which clique did the majority think is most likely to harbour a passionate interest in Star Wars?"

Again, the buzz came from Morgana's direction. Her grin was renewed.

"What is your answer, Morgana?"

"The Brains."

"That is correct!" Percival looked mildly surprised, Merlin was not. "Who would you like to eliminate?"

She didn't even have to look around this time. "Gwaine."

'_I suppose she doesn't want another Athlete HOH._' Merlin thought. '_You can't really blame her._'

It took Merlin a few seconds to realise that it was his turn to step up to the podium and he felt his heart rate increase instinctively as he took his place. He eyed Morgana suspiciously, noting for just a moment that Elyan and Vivian were also competing, wondering mostly if he'd be able to beat her to the answer.

"Question four," Merlin almost shuddered with anticipation, although he was unaware of the blue eyes currently following his slim figure. "Which clique is most likely to end up participating in the 2012 Olympics?"

He smashed his hand down on the red button, but didn't get there fast enough. Instinctively, he looked to Morgana, but she looked equally shocked. Before he could realise just who had beat the both of them to it, Percival spoke.

"Vivian." Suddenly Merlin felt winded, but Percival didn't stop. "What is your answer?"

She hesitated for a moment. "The Athletes." She looked hopeful, batting her perfectly black eyelashes to Percival, as if it would make a difference.

Percival grinned, happy to see his allies finally picking up the tempo. "That's correct! Who would you like to eliminate?"

She smirked and Merlin felt a shiver run down his spine when their eyes locked. "Merlin."

* * *

><p>Merlin was furious to say the least, what was the point in doing that? Especially when Morgana was so obviously dominating the game. Said woman smiled to him sympathetically, though obviously delighted with Vivian's colossal mistake. He stomped off, gruffly wishing Freya 'good luck' before plopping himself down on the 'losers' bench beside Gwen.<p>

Arthur looked on with amusement, but only for a moment, as it was his turn to participate in the next round.

The competition was long and the set up ensured that new enemies would be made. The way in which the victor of each round was granted the opportunity to eliminate another competitor allowed old wounds to be re-opened. Thus, it was no surprise when Morgana continued to target the Athletes clique. In round five, she managed to eliminate Elyan, taking the possibility of an Athlete HOH away for that week altogether, much to Percival's disappointment.

'_Still,_' Merlin thought. '_There's a chance someone from his alliance will win._' He eyed Arthur suspiciously.

Unfortunately, Freya was the only person remaining from his clique and, in round seven, Morgana managed to eliminate her as well. With the entirety of his clique on the 'losers' bench now, he found himself now cheering for the woman who'd eliminated two of his clique mates. Though Gwen was still a little miffed, she soon joined in. They had all got on with Morgana well, would it be so bad if she won?

'_Besides,_' Merlin thought. '_I'm pretty sure she'll be going after the Athletes this week._'

Arthur's mind was elsewhere though. Freya had eliminated Lancelot in round six and Morgana had finally gotten rid of Vivian in round eight. By the time the final round came around, though he had answered no questions, Arthur was the only person left to face the dark haired woman. She smirked at him.

'_Come on, Arthur,_' He told himself. '_You can't take second place, not again._'

But he knew the stakes were much higher than that. His alliance with the Athletes was no secret, despite nothing having been said aloud, it was fairly obvious. He was a serious competitor and, to stay in the game, he'd aligned himself with the players he'd judged to be the strongest. Morgana still seemed to hold a grudge against said players and would probably, gladly, take him down with the rest of the Athlete clique.

Percival gave him a glare from where he stood.

'_No pressure then._'

"Question nine," The large man began. "Which clique did the majority think was most likely to claim the titles of Prom King and Queen?"

He slammed his hand down, but his supposedly quick reflexes failed him and, by the time his hand touched the red plastic, Morgana had already buzzed.

Percival looked worried, but there was nothing he could do. "Morgana, for the title of HOH, what is your answer?"

She took a deep breath, finally realising what was up for grabs here. As if, throughout her rather impressive display of prowess earlier, she'd just been on auto pilot.

"The Populars."

"You are..." He trailed off as he read his card. "Correct."

Arthur held his head in his hands.

* * *

><p>As soon as Percival had finished speaking, Merlin jumped from his seat to embrace the victor. Perhaps it wasn't the best outcome, but it was certainly better than some of the alternatives. The huge grin on Morgana's face said it all and no one was surprised when she politely declined Percival's handshake, in a familiar way that reminded them all momentarily of Leon. It was plain to see who needed to worry this week.<p>

Morgana and Morgause, with the rest of the Offbeat clique, soon plundered back into the house, leaving the remaining contestants in the garden to wallow in their loss.

* * *

><p>Arthur was pissed off, again. His alliance had failed him but, equally, he had failed his alliance. Now they'd all be fighting to survive. He sighed.<p>

'_Not this again._'

Wordlessly, they went to sit on the couches, sneaking side glances at each other every now and again.

"One of us _will _be going home this week," Percival said slowly, taking the obvious role of leader, despite the fact that he was no longer HOH. "If we don't do something."

Before Percival could say anymore, Lancelot got up and left.

* * *

><p>Morgana, Morgause, Freya, Gwen and Merlin were sitting in the kitchen together when Lancelot joined them. Morgause eyed him suspiciously, after all he was a member of the Popular clique, but his friendly demeanour and warm smile soon warmed her.<p>

"Where are the rest of them?" Morgana asked, sounding surprisingly cold. Who could blame her though; she'd lost a clique mate and, what's more, a friend because of their alliance.

Lancelot smiled weakly to her, understanding her pain. "In the garden."

"They're probably shitting bricks right now." Merlin said with a grin, his vulgar joke was rewarded with titters and chuckles from the girls.

Lancelot sighed. "That sounds about right."

Morgana leaned on the kitchen counter, looking at him questioningly. "So what are you doing here?"

Their gazes locked, as the room filled with a level of tension that could be cut with a knife.

"I don't want any part in their scheming."

A short silence followed, as they all waited for Morgana to speak. Soon enough, a small smile played on the corners of her lips.

"Good," Her smile widened. "Because I quite like you, Lancelot."

He grinned back and the tension disappeared.

* * *

><p>"I guess we just lost Lancelot." Arthur said what everyone was thinking, breaking the long silence that had been created when the blond man had left.<p>

Percival sighed. "He was weak anyway, but it does mean they have greater numbers than us now."

Vivian pouted. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Arthur interrupted, answering for Percival. "That they could vote one of us out if they wanted."

Another pregnant pause ensued.

* * *

><p>"Who wants to see my HOH room?" Morgana's enthusiastic call echoed through the house. While half of the contestants followed her up the stairs with equal excitement, another half trailed behind half-heartedly.<p>

Morgana gasped when they entered, watery eyed already when she saw the large picture of a young dark-haired man, assumingly her younger brother. There were many pictures of Morgana herself, which she gladly spoke about. She had been an extremely pretty child, with her pale complexion and wavy hair, but she also expressed to the houseguests that she felt associated a lot of sadness with her childhood. However, when Merlin pointed back to the hooded male, she gladly changed the subject.

"Yes, he's my brother." She smiled. "I managed to find him about a year ago, we shared the same mother, but he was very young when she died. He's in care now, but I'm looking into adopting him."

Merlin smiled. "You seem close."

"We are."

Soon enough, they all found places on the sofas and floor, to sit and listen to Morgana's letter.

"It's from Mordred," She sounded a little choked up already. "My brother."

"Dear Morgana," She began, sitting down now with shaky legs. "If you are reading this letter, then you've won HOH. I have to say, I'm not surprised, after all, not everyone in that house has your IQ."

Merlin chuckled, he liked this boy already.

"Watching you has been fun, but hard, at the same time. I don't think that you quite realised how taxing this game would be for you emotionally. That said, I still believe, with all my heart, that you will win this competition."

Her voice broke, but she carried on after only a brief pause when Gwen gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "It's time for you to step into the limelight and achieve something without the money and fame you were born with. Even Uther has been watching your progress keenly every evening for the last week."

Merlin noted some movement in the blond behind him, but ignored it, thinking nothing of it.

"What I mean to say, is that we all miss you lots and wish you the best of luck. Yours sincerely, Mordred."

Morgana wiped her eyes, just before Gwen gave her a warm hug. She laughed lightly, but soon dissolved once more into tears. Percival, Vivian, Elyan and Gwaine escaped at this point, slyly slipping out of the room. Arthur, however, to Merlin's surprise, remained, as if waiting for something.

Morgana recovered eventually and smiled. "Thank you for listening, I know it might seem that I'm being silly."

"Not at all," Merlin said softly. "It just shows how close you are to your family."

Merlin's potential monologue was then interrupted by Arthur rising and leaving rather abruptly.

"What's up with him?" Gwen asked unabashedly, unaware of how nosy she appeared.

Morgana smiled weakly. "He's just spooked."

"By what?" Merlin asked incredulously, trying to ignore how meddlesome he, himself, sounded.

"The fact that his father is actually watching the show."

"How do you know his father?"

Her weak smile fell. "It's... complicated."

And they left it at that.

* * *

><p>Gwen's sigh was audible from where Merlin lay in his bed that night. "Do you think it really was a good thing that Morgana got HOH?"<p>

"Of course!" He replied, lying on his back. "We're both practically guaranteed safety this week."

She sighed again. "I suppose you're right."

There was a short silence before Merlin found it in himself to speak his mind.

"It's strange isn't it?"

"What?"

He took a deep breath. "How quickly everything changes."

"Hm."

She didn't seem to be listening; it was all too easy to tell when her mind was elsewhere. Now it was Merlin's time to sigh, Gwen was a lovely girl, but she really shouldn't rely on him so much. It annoyed him greatly that she wasn't so ready to listen to him as he was for her. But, despite his wavering patience, he knew he would put up with it.

"What's wrong?"

She smiled. "You know me too well, Merlin."

"I know, I know. Just tell me what's up."

She sighed thoughtfully. "I'm just wondering what connection there is between Morgana and Arthur."

Merlin grinned. "Worried you've got some competition?"

He couldn't see her frown, but he could hear it in her voice. "No."

"Are you sure?"

There was a short silence. "No."

"Well there you go." Merlin said softly.

Gwen sighed. "I just don't think I could compete with a woman like Morgana."

"If it helps at all," He replied. "I don't think you're going to need to."

The smile returned to her voice. "Thanks, Merlin."

* * *

><p>Arthur lay awake that evening for many hours, finally out of the 'have not' room and back in the 'bathroom bedroom'. Not that there was much difference between the two. He was worried, very worried, but there was nothing he could do. At this point, it was a given that Morgana would love to get rid of him. His only hope was to push the Athlete clique and make her want to get rid of Percival, more than himself.<p>

He sighed. This was going to be a long week.


	6. Day Nine

**Ahh, here we are again! I really should be revising for my Science exam tomorrow but I thought that I might as well finish this and upload it. I warn you though, you probably won't get another update for about another month. However, after that, I will be much more free and doing much more writing. Updates will be done in just a few days so, all of you great people still following this, please be patient.**

**So, I guess I should start with 'Thank You'! The response has been so great! You guys have been patient and extremely kind, so I hope you enjoy this chapter, despite the fact that it's one of my shortest.  
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**There will be much more Merthur action in the coming chapters, the first kiss will be coming very soon~! It's getting very interesting now! Ooh, and this chapter I used a quote from the actual Merlin series. I have quite a few lined up for the coming chapters, so look out for them. I'm hoping that it will make the plot feel a little more 'canon'. See if you can spot the quote!  
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**I feel like I should have so much more to say, but I've forgotten everything. Anyhow, feel free to ask me anything~! Requests are also taken into account!  
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* * *

><p>For the first time since he'd entered the house, Merlin slept in late. He woke up a few times in the early morning but merely curled up further in his warm duvet and went back to sleep. For Arthur, however, things were quite different. He woke up early, even earlier than usual and, without hesitation, left his bed in favour of the living room. He would've been lying if he said he hadn't been hoping that Merlin would be waiting there for him, after all, their complicated friendship (is that what you'd call it?) could come in handy this week. Unfortunately, he was left disappointed to find whole house still sleeping, including a certain dark haired young man.<p>

He sat there, wondering what, exactly; he was going to have to do in order to stay in the game. Using his relationship with Merlin would be the smart thing to do, but he'd still rather keep their interactions on the down low. Though it would help him this week, it could be a disadvantage the next week. If possible, keeping the whole thing a secret would be ideal, but could he really do that whilst trying to convince the man to help him? He was a little oblivious at times but certainly not stupid, would be really fall for that?

Arthur sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He just needed to get the guy on his own for a bit.

* * *

><p>"It's time for our first Luxury Competition!" Morgana's call rang throughout the house and, slowly but surely; the houseguests dragged themselves up to gather in the living room.<p>

"Before any more is revealed, let's go out to the garden!"

The garden, as they had now come to expect, had been completely transformed. Instead of being able to see the garden through the clear double doors, it was covered in deep blue curtains. There were a few squeals of excitement, as they stepped through the velvety drapes. Immediately after doing so, they found themselves standing on a red catwalk, around three metres long. On their left, as they came out, there was a panel for six people to sit on and, on the right, a podium, assumingly for the person who was presenting the event.

The contestants, now struggling to contain their excitement, stepped down from the catwalk as Morgana spoke once again.

"For our first Luxury Competition, we have a celebrity presenter, so please welcome our very first guest to the Big Brother house!"

The houseguests were already clapping before the dark-haired figure stepped out. Merlin recognised him immediately, but couldn't recall his name until Vivian screeched it out at the top of her voice.

"Oh my god!" She cried. "It's Robert Pattinson!"

The clapping was a lot more sincere now and Merlin, stealing side glances at the other contestants, realised that the majority of the girls were now looking a little flushed. He further scrutinised the man in front of him, trying to remember where he recognised him from. All to no avail and, judging by the expressions of many of the other males in the group, he wasn't the only one who was wondering what all the fuss was.

Robert, dressed in a rather sharp suit, grinned, taking his place on the podium.

"Welcome to your first Luxury Competition, houseguests!" He read from his cue cards. "Today you'll be competing for the privilege of seeing my newest film: Breaking Dawn - Part Two."

Vivian and Gwen both squealed loudly and Arthur, sneaking a glance at the two of them, wondered for a moment if either would pass out before the challenge was over.

'_If only we should be so lucky,_' He thought with a sigh.

To be honest, he wasn't so pumped for that kind of prize. He'd never been fond of romantic films, especially not ones will sparkly vampires. Merlin felt similarly, standing in his place not so far from the blond. He'd heard about the Twilight films, hell, he'd even gone to see the first one with an ex-girlfriend, but he wasn't really interested in wasting two hours of his life watching a montage of bad acting and Mary Sues.

"In addition," The actor added. "A practically unlimited supply of appropriate snacks will be made available."

'_Fuck it,_' Merlin thought. '_I'm in it for the free food._'

The houseguests, if they hadn't been before, were definitely listening now. Two hours of popcorn and a vampire film would, at least, take their minds off the competition for a while.

"You will be split into two teams at random. The teams will take it in turns to answer questions about the contestants on the other team. The contestants with the most points on each team will be the very first people to see the finale of the Twilight Saga."

Vivian sighed dreamily one again; this was the perfect contest for her. She went to see the first part of Breaking Dawn nine times, most of the time on her own. She loved the films with a passion but had never been interested in reading the books. As far as she was concerned, the books would be inferior to a topless Taylor Lautner.

She giggled to herself. Yes, this prize was for her.

"The first team is..." Robert trailed off, smirking at the contestants. His behaviour really wasn't aiding the concentration of the females in the group.

'_Please not with Arthur, please not with Arthur._' Gwen chanted in her head. If she could win this and see a romantic film with Arthur, her life would officially be complete forever

"Morgana, Guinevere, Percival, Gwaine and Arthur." Robert read. "Please take your places on the panel."

Gwen frowned, but did as she was asked, managing to take a place between Morgana and Arthur.

"The rest of you can wait on the bench."

Merlin sat down with his team and shivered as his eyes locked with Arthur's.

'_Wouldn't it be strange if..._' He trailed off in his mind, ignoring the possibilities running through his mind at a hundred miles an hour.

"I'm going to give you a situation about a member of the opposite team," Robert's dark eyes pierced the contestants. "Said member of the opposite team will disappear in the drapes behind me and then come out to reveal the answer. For each question, you will be given two rectangular signs each with an answer on. You will all be asked to hold up your answer by lifting one of these signs. Good luck and here we go."

Arthur took a deep breath and dragged his gaze away from the dark haired figure sitting on the bench to his right. He had to concentrate if he wanted to win this and, if he was lucky, he might just earn some quality time with a certain someone.

"This question," Robert began, running a hand through his perfectly-styled hair. "Is about Vivian, so would Vivian please go behind the curtains."

She giggled, as if he'd made a joke and winked. "For you, anything."

Robert cringed for a second, as she disappeared, before recovering and continuing. "We all know that Vivian has expensive taste however, if forced, would she rather wear clothes from a charity shop or drive a second hand car?"

'_Well, that's easy._' Arthur thought, picking the signs up from the floor. Easily, he chose his answer and waited.

"Vivian, would you please come out to reveal your answer."

As soon as she came into clear view, Merlin started cackling with laughter. Fortunately, he was far from the only one. Everyone was pissing themselves when Vivian came out dressed as a dirty blue car. The real kicker though, was the look of complete disgust on her face. She slowly shuffled down the catwalk, scowling and blushing as the houseguests continued to laugh at her.

Robert chuckled. "It seems that she'd rather drive a second hand car, but let's see how many of you knew that. Arthur, please reveal your answer."

He grinned and held up the sign saying 'SECOND HAND CAR' in bold blue text. "Second hand car."

"Morgana, please reveal your answer."

She smiled sweetly to Robert, batting her eyelashes seductively, as she held up her answer. "Second hand car."

The dark-haired man smiled back, though not quite as sincerely. "So Arthur and Morgana have both answered correctly, but what about you Gwen?"

She blushed as soon as he said her name. Her hands shook as they held up the sign saying 'CHARITY SHOP CLOTHES'.

Robert smiled sympathetically to her. "Unfortunately, that is incorrect. But will Percival be able to answer correctly?"

Percival scowled and held up the same sign as Gwen.

"Sorry, Percival that's not going to cut it." He sounded genuine but, then again, he was an actor. "Gwaine, please reveal your answer."

Gwaine grinned. "I got this right," He said, holding up the correct answer. "Because she was raving about it the other day."

They laughed briefly, before Vivian made her escape and Robert continued.

"Question two is about Lancelot," He said, as the blond man got up instinctively to disappear behind the blue velvet. "And we all know how much Lancelot loves football but, on your average Saturday, are you more likely to find him watching his favourite football team playing a game or helping out at a homeless shelter?"

Arthur sighed. '_This is too easy._' However, stealing a side glance at Morgana, he realised he wasn't the only one finding the questions too simple. If he wanted to win, there was going to be no room for mistakes.

"Lancelot, please come out to reveal your answer."

Seconds later, out came Lancelot, dressed as a can of Heinz beans, with his grinning expression poking through. Despite the fact that the houseguests laughed, he seemed perfectly comfortable with the situation and even had the social grace to laugh at himself.

"You're more likely to find me helping out at a homeless shelter," He confirmed through chuckles. "Than at a football match."

Robert was grinning now. "Arthur, please reveal you answer."

"You are far too noble, dear Lancelot." Arthur said, smirking, as he held up his answer.

"Morgana? Have you answered correctly?"

She held up her sign. "I have."

"Guinevere," He said slowly, trying to be gentle with the easily embarrassed girl. "Have you answered this one correctly this time?"

She smiled through her light blush. "Y-yes." She held up the red sign saying 'HOMELESS SHELTER'.

Unfortunately, Percival and Gwaine were not correct and the both of them held up a sign saying 'FOOTIE MATCH'.

"At the end of that question," Robert rounded off before continuing. "Arthur and Morgana are in the lead with two points each."

Arthur eyed his dark-haired rival. He wasn't going to let her beat him again; it was his turn to win.

"The next question is about our good friend Elyan," The dark-skinned man stood up at the sound of his name. "So would Elyan please go behind the curtain now."

When he was gone, Robert continued. "Elyan's been one of the quietest contestants in the game so far, but which of these situations would bother him more: watching a man hit on his sister or having his car break down while he was driving down a busy motorway?"

Arthur sneaked a glance at Guinevere, who was now blushing profusely. She'd know the answer to this and, judging by her embarrassment, Arthur knew the answer too.

"Okay, prepare your answers." Morgana looked slightly worried and hurriedly locked in her answer.

Arthur smirked. '_Good._'

"Elyan, please come out and reveal your answer."

If they thought they'd laughed hard when Vivian came out, they were about to be proved wrong. Because, when Elyan came out in a long curly brown wig, a pink dress and huge fake boobs, they were all holding their bellies, as they laughed their asses off.

Elyan looked unimpressed, to say the least, though a small smile played on his lips when he caught sight of himself in a reflective surface. He winked at his sister, whose dark skin had gone a bright tomato red colour.

"It looks like Elyan would be more annoyed seeing a guy hit on his sister!" Robert exclaimed through small chuckles. "But did you guys guess right? Arthur?"

Arthur just grinned and held up his sign.

'_Get in there!_'

"Well done, Arthur!" Robert congratulated. "Morgana?"

The dark haired woman smiled, suddenly brimming with a familiar confidence. "I got it right~!"

"It seems that Gwen knows her brother well." Robert noted, when Gwen held up the correct answer. "Percival?"

Percival smirked, as he held up his own answer. "Well, I got my first one right."

"And last, but by no means least, Gwaine?"

The bearded man smiled weakly. "It seems that I don't know my clique mate so well..." He held up the sign saying 'CAR BREAKDOWN'.

"Sorry, that's incorrect." Elyan disappeared behind the blue curtains to get changed back into his normal clothing. "And at the end of that, Arthur and Morgana are still tying for the lead with three points!"

Morgana winked at Arthur, beginning to rile him up a little. He took a deep breath, he couldn't allow himself to get too angry; he'd lose concentration. He had to win this, he had to. It was a matter of principal and, quite possibly, his entire existence in this competition could depend on the outcome of this challenge.

"Okay, question four is about Morgause," The blonde woman in question disappeared behind the thick velvet. "We all know that Morgause is a banker and a good one at that. But, as a child, her aspirations were very different. At the age of five would she rather have grown up to be a ballerina or a witch?"

Arthur grimaced. Morgana was sure to know this one and, judging by the gleeful glint in her eyes, she definitely did. He sighed and tried to get into the mindset of a grumpy, self-centred blonde woman. All he got was a nasty mental image of Vivian dressed as a car. With no other choice, he guessed.

"Morgause, please come out to reveal your answer."

She stepped out looking thoroughly miffed in a scruffy, ripped dress and a rather out of place green nose, dotted with ugly red warts.

"You know, _real _witches don't look like this." She protested, folding her arms across her chest.

The contestants struggled to hold in their laughter as they watched her, but Robert managed to continue.

"How many of you knew Morgause well enough to answer that question correctly?" His gaze fell upon a rather nervy blond man. "Arthur?"

Arthur's small grin fell. "I got this one wrong." He admitted, holding up the sign saying 'BALLERINA'.

Morgause's grinned was renewed. "Unfortunately for Arthur over here," She held up her sign. "I got this one right."

"Oooh," There was a collective exclamation throughout the other contestants.

Robert grinned. "Okay, but how about Gwen."

The dark skinned girl smiled weakly, holding up her answer. "I also got this one right."

"Percival?"

The broad-shouldered former wrester grinned. "It seems I know Morgause better than I thought." In the air he held the sign saying 'WITCH'.

"Well done, Percival." Robert seemed insincere when he spoke to the broad-shouldered man. "And, finally, Gwaine."

Gwaine looked a little guilty. "I thought she would've wanted to be a ballerina."

"And, at the end of that round, Morgana has taken the lead with four points!"

Arthur scowled, if she got this next question right and he got it wrong; he was out of the game. The further they went, the more he wanted to win this thing.

'_No more second place for me._'

"The next question is about Freya."

He grimaced without thinking. How was he supposed to answer a question about an enigma?

Robert continued as Freya disappeared. "Freya's been pretty apathetic so far, but what really gets her excited: a classic British fry up or a good book?"

Arthur snuck looks at the other contestants on his team, at least Morgana looked a good deal less confident now. He sighed and tried to think about his answer. If Freya was anything, she was unpredictable and it was perfectly obvious which option was the unpredictable answer.

'_I guess it's worth a try..._' He thought as he locked in his answer.

"Freya, will you please come out to reveal your answer."

Freya's face was emotionless when she came out but it made no difference to the overall effect of the costume she was wearing. She was dressed as a fried egg, the white blending in with her pale complexion and the runny orange yolk triggering all of the contestants to giggle lightly. After a few minutes, realising that they weren't laughing _at _her, she let a small smile loose.

"It's true," She said pleasantly. "I _love _the stereotypical British fry up."

Arthur grinned, holding up his answer without needing to be prompted. "Then I got this one right."

Robert nodded. "Morgana."

The dark haired woman hissed as she held up her own sign.

Robert smiled sympathetically. "Unfortunately, that is incorrect, Morgana."

Similarly, Percival and Gwen answered incorrectly. However, to everyone's surprise, Gwaine got it right!

"Morgana and Arthur are now tied for the lead once more," Robert played up the tension. "This last question will decide who wins."

Arthur took a deep breath. '_Well there must only be one person left._' His gaze brushed over the opposite team and froze when his eyes were met with the subject of the final question. He shivered.

'_It was always going to be him, wasn't it?_'

"So, obviously, the deciding question will be about Merlin."

* * *

><p>Merlin tore his eyes away from the smouldering gaze of Arthur to escape behind the thick blue drapes. He wasn't surprised at all about the costume he was passed quickly by one of the producers, who consequently disappeared. This was only going to work because he was so thin and tall. He took a deep breath, in order to prepare himself to confront the other contestants.<p>

* * *

><p>"Now, I'm sure it's become very obvious just how much Merlin loves his art. But which of the following is his favourite: sketching or painting?"<p>

Arthur frowned for a second, just a second, until he was taken back in time, to a conversation from just a few days ago.

"_So," He had asked quietly. "Drawing and not painting today?"_

_ Merlin had nodded in reply, seemingly surprised by his interest. "It doesn't take as much effort."_

Arthur grinned, he was going to win this competition if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

><p>He felt like a public spectacle, at first, when he stepped out. Being dressed as a long, yellow pencil wasn't the most attractive look he'd ever had. Still, he didn't feel uncomfortable, not really, when they laughed at him because he knew, if he'd been in their place, he would have been laughing too. So he gave them a twirl and winked at a certain blond male on the panel.<p>

"I'd rather sketch than paint!"

* * *

><p>Arthur, though blushing from the totally inappropriate wink Merlin had given him, was grinning wildly. He held up his sign proudly.<p>

"I got it right!"

He sent Morgana a look, as if to say 'suck on that'. She scowled and held up her own answer.

There was a collective gasp.

"Arthur! You are our first winner!"

* * *

><p>Arthur was very happy with this outcome and he still had a very large smile on his face. However, it meant nothing if the right person didn't win on the other team. He looked on hopefully, as the other team took their positions on the panel, ignoring Morgana's burning glare.<p>

"Okay, team two, let's get started." Robert began. "This question's about Morgana, so if you'd like to go out for a moment..."

He trailed off as Morgana stomped behind the drapes, obviously furious.

* * *

><p>Merlin shivered. How was it that now, after Arthur had won for his team, he wanted to win even more.<p>

'_But wouldn't that be strange?_' He wondered. '_Two guys seeing a romance film together._'

But he didn't have time to question it, when Robert finally started the questions.

"Morgana likes her men handsome _and _intelligent, much like her beautiful self." Robert continued. "But, if given the choice, would she rather date a hunky fireman or a smart surgeon?"

He went on instinct, he knew Morgana fairly well and, when it came to this, he was all for trusting his gut.

"Morgana, please come out and reveal the answer!"

There were a number of wolf whistles when Morgana pranced out, a lot more upbeat now, in a fire man's hat, a tight white tank top, black suspenders and baggy yellow overalls. Merlin grinned.

"It looks like Morgana would go for the hunky fireman!" Robert exclaimed. "But did you guys know that?"

Robert's gaze fell on Merlin, as he gestured for him to reveal his answer.

"Looks like I got it right." He said, holding up the sign saying 'FIREMAN'.

* * *

><p>Arthur felt himself get a little lighter, maybe things really would work out.<p>

His eyes locked with the dark-haired man's. '_Does he want this? Is he really trying?_'

* * *

><p>Vivian and Morgause also answered correctly, putting them in a joint lead with Merlin. To be fair, Freya didn't seem to be trying very hard.<p>

'_I suppose, really, this competition means very little._' Merlin admitted. '_So why are you trying so hard?_' He asked himself.

"Question two is about Gwen." The dark skinned girl took her cue and left. "Who seems to be your average, humble housewife. But what 'trashy' TV show is her guilty pleasure: '_The Jeremy Kyle show_' or '_The Only Way is Essex_'?"

Merlin grinned. '_That's easy_.'

* * *

><p>Arthur's eyes were glued to Merlin, watching his every move and hoping, <em>praying<em>, that, by some miracle, the dark-haired man might win.

'_Who else is there anyway?_' He looked at the rest of the contestants. '_Freya isn't trying, Elyan would be useless. No, it has to be Merlin._'

'_Strictly strategic, right?_' A voice in the back of his head quoted sarcastically.

* * *

><p>"Gwen, please come out and reveal your answer."<p>

God knows how they managed to transform Gwen in such a short amount of time because, when she came out, her usually coffee-coloured skin was orange, her lips bright pink and her t-shirt stuffed to make her bust look bigger. To top it all off, her face was red like a tomato due to the intense flush on her cheeks.

Merlin cringed at the very sight; he knew how embarrassed she would be. Then realisation hit him and he sat back in his seat gleefully.

"Merlin, please show us your answer."

He grinned as he held up his sign.

"That is correct!"

* * *

><p>Freya, Lancelot and, unsurprisingly, Elyan also answered correctly. Arthur grinned, everything was going well.<p>

"Merlin is now in the lead with two points!"

Arthur smirked, this was unravelling perfectly. If things kept going on this way, he might just be able to guarantee his safety for another week.

"Okay, let's move on." Robert continued. "The next question will be about Percival."

As soon as he heard that name, Arthur frowned.

* * *

><p>Merlin reacted similarly, unsure of whether he'd be able to answer a question about this man. He barely knew him and he certainly didn't want to. Still he didn't really have a choice, he'd just have to try and understand how a man like Percival ticked. He shivered; that wasn't a pleasant mindset.<p>

"We all know how fond Percival is of his wife," Robert started.

'_I bet that's the only nice thing they could find to say about him._' Merlin thought cryptically.

"But which gift is he more likely to give her for Valentine's Day: a box of chocolates or a signed picture of himself?"

Merlin sighed, okay that was easy enough. The man had a massive ego and, hopefully, that would reflect in his answer.

No one or, at least, very few people were surprised when Percival came out holding a large picture frame around his face. His ego really was unbelievable.

The only people who answered that question incorrectly were Vivian and Lancelot. Vivian merely protested that a picture would be a 'crap gift', portraying an innocence they'd never seen in her before. Lancelot, on the other hand, said that he had thought better of Percival and hadn't expected an answer like that from him.

'_Poor Lancelot,_' Merlin thought, seeing the frown on the blond man's face. '_He thinks too much of people who don't deserve it._'

* * *

><p>"So, Merlin is still leading with three points!"<p>

Arthur grinned; this was all going to plan.

"The next question will be about Gwaine."

'_Come on, Merlin._' He thought. '_You know Gwaine, you can do this._'

* * *

><p>"I think it's become perfectly obvious, by now, that Gwaine loves women. But what is his ultimate fantasy: a girl in a French maid outfit or a girl dressed as Wonder Woman?"<p>

Merlin couldn't help but snicker at the very thought. Luckily, he already knew the answer; finally his short conversations with Gwaine were coming in handy. Somehow, he was finding this easier than Arthur had. The answers were coming quickly and easily, and so, he hadn't answered a question wrong yet.

'_Careful, Merlin,_' He told himself. '_Don't jinx it._'

* * *

><p>Now, I could just tell you that Merlin answered the next two questions correctly, which was quite a feat in itself. However, then you wouldn't be able to comprehend the real effect of the competition as a whole. So you can sit there and know, right now, that Merlin did win. That wasn't the interesting part though. The interesting part was the fact that this entire competition had been adapted for a specific purpose by the show's producers. The competition had, originally, been designed as a boys against girls challenge however, they saw fit to change that. As they did, the following question.<p>

"This question is about Arthur," Robert had said, quite calmly as the blonde disappeared. A small smile itching to break through. "If Merlin gets this correct, he has won. If he does not, then we have another question."

"Arthur may come across as a bit of a pampered princess, but he's actually one of our generation's most eligible bachelors." Merlin raised an eyebrow at that, who were they trying to sell Arthur to? "So, for all those secret admirers out there, does Arthur prefer his partners to be blondes or brunettes?"

Merlin froze, that was a really quite a personal question, especially in contrast to the rest of the questions that had been asked. That sort of preference, brought up in polite society, was one that Arthur obviously would not share with just anyone. Thus, he didn't have much to go off. He blushed, hoping no one was looking; he'd just have to guess.

Little did poor Merlin know, the question had been worded very specifically to serve its purpose. Unfortunately, Merlin was far too oblivious to realise it quite yet.

* * *

><p>Arthur, on the other hand, had found the choice of question rather suspicious. The truth was, he didn't have a particular preference. He'd just picked the answer he thought Merlin might get. He shivered where he stood behind the velvety curtain, waiting and hoping that the right outcome might reach him.<p>

"Arthur, please come out and reveal the answer!"

* * *

><p>Everyone laughed when Arthur came out in a dark wig, apart from Merlin, who was now blushing profusely. The watching producers nodded to each other. Although the competition hadn't, at least; not yet, served the purpose they had hoped, it had triggered something. None of them were quite sure what that 'something' was exactly but, whatever it was, they were sure their audience would love it and ,really, wasn't that what really mattered?<p>

A few moments later, Arthur and Merlin stood side by side next to Robert.

"Now, before our winners escape to the HOH for their prize, we are also granting them the decision of picking this week's 'have not's!"

Merlin rolled his eyes, that was going to make him some friends. He looked to Arthur who merely nodded at him, leaving the ball in his court. Well, there was only really one decision that was going to keep him in Morgana's good books.

"The Athletes." He smiled sympathetically to said clique. Gwaine and Elyan merely shrugged, but Percival glared at him. He shivered, that wasn't good.

* * *

><p>Before Merlin and Arthur were allowed to watch the film, they were both required to make a quick trip to the diary room. They smiled weakly to each other, before Merlin exited the living room where Arthur was waiting with the rest of the contestants.<p>

"Congratulations on your win, Merlin." The producers congratulated him, as he sat down. "We'd just like you to make a few comments on the contest and how you're feeling about watching a film with Arthur."

The very mention of the blond contestant sent blood rushing back into Merlin's cheeks.

"It was... i-interesting." He managed to stutter eventually, looking away from the camera lens and clearing his throat. "I can't help but wonder if there was something, I don't know, deeper going on that I don't know about."

He sighed. "As to the prize, I'm not really sure why I tried so hard to get here. I mean, I'm not entirely convinced that it's that great a prize."

A short pause ensued. "Okay, you may leave now, Merlin. Please send Arthur in."

He left quickly, taking a deep breath as he re-entered the living room.

"Arthur," The blond looked up at the sound of his voice. "It's your turn."

They passed each other, as Arthur stood to leave and Merlin went to sit beside Gwen. Their hands touched briefly, causing them both to jump back ever so slightly. They both sharply gasped, an action that also went unnoticed, before continuing on as if nothing had happened. Merlin sat beside his friend, trying to calm his racing heart.

"This is perfect," Gwen whispered hurriedly in his ear as he cradled his hand.

He looked at her questioningly, trying to rub away whatever electricity Arthur had put there. "Why?"

She smiled. "You can find out if he really likes me."

He managed a weak smile. "Okay."

"Promise?"

He sighed lightly. "Promise."

* * *

><p>Arthur sighed simultaneously as he sat down in the seat, looking at his hand questioningly.<p>

"Is something wrong, Arthur?" The producer's voice surprised him and he jumped in his seat a little.

"No, nothing." He said, letting his arm drop to the side of the seat. "Nothing at all."

"Okay, good." The producer sounded even more unsure than he did. "We'd like you to quickly comment on the competition itself and how you feel about sharing the prize with Merlin."

Arthur's mind was going at a million miles an hour. So many thoughts were running through his mind, so many possibilities. There were questions, so many questions, but he had to remind himself of the basics. This was a game and this was all purely strategy.

"I-I knew-" He cleared his throat, his voice shaking like a leaf in the wind. He had to regain his composure.

"I knew, right from the moment that Morgana got HOH, that this week would be a struggle for me. I knew my only hope was to use the ties I had with the Off Beats, preferably that with Merlin. So this competition was the perfect opportunity to get some seemingly innocent alone time with him. If I pull this off properly, the next few hours will be the only thing that saves my ass this week."

Yes, that sounded right. It sounded logical and one hundred percent heterosexual... right?

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, the houseguests all made their way up to the HOH room, where Merlin and Arthur would watch the film together. A large black TV screen had been placed in front of the two couches, though it was also visible from the bed. There were also large speakers placed logically throughout the room. On the right was a carnival-esque popcorn machine with three sections: one for sweet, one for salt and one for toffee. On top of that, there were five, three-tiered stands with every type of boiled sweet, chocolate bar and cake they could think of. On top of that, they'd been supplied with fizzy drinks, wine, beer <em>and <em>champagne.

"Well," Morgana was the first to speak, a sarcastic hint showing in her tone of voice. "Isn't this lovely."

Gwen smiled with more sincerity than her friend. "I have to admit, I'm rather jealous."

Vivian huffed.

"I think that means 'me too'!" Lancelot joked, easing the tension in the room.

Morgana sniffed. "Well, I think we'd better leave these two to their little _date_."

As the houseguests began to file out, Arthur had the final word, glaring at his dark-haired nemesis. "Jealousy isn't pretty on a girl, Morgana. You should know that!"

Merlin rolled his eyes, as the door slammed shut. "How mature." He turned around and started to collect his favourite sweets before Arthur could get there first.

"Don't be icy, Mer-lin." Arthur smirked, deliberately elongating his companion's name.

The dark-haired man sighed. "Let's just get this over with."

Arthur scowled. "What's wrong with you?"

As if on cue, the television screen jumped to life, the title screen fading into view. Merlin sighed.

"I guess I just don't really want to watch the film." Merlin lied.

Arthur came to stand beside the pale man, ignoring the rising tension in the room. "Then don't."

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked, popping a boiled sweet in his mouth.

Arthur grinned. "Exactly that, let's do something else."

"Like what?"

The blond shrugged in reply, picking up a Mars bar and beginning to peel off the wrapper. "I don't know? Talk?"

Merlin snorted, sitting on one of the couches and turning down the volume coming from the TV. "That's rich, coming from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arthur looked surprisingly shocked, as he came to sit beside the dark-haired man.

"Okay, you want to talk." Merlin smirked. "Let's talk. Let's talk about your complete inability to talk to me when we're not on our own."

Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but Merlin cut him off.

"Let's be honest, Arthur." His smirk began to fall into a scowl. "Beyond my capabilities to help you through this week, you find me completely and utterly useless."

"Hey!" Arthur called, interrupting the infuriating young man. "That's not entirely true!"

Merlin smiled sadistically. "Right, like I said, you need me to get through this week but, after that, you'll just go back to ignoring me."

Arthur scowled; he was beginning to feel a little pissed off now. What was this knack that Merlin had for seeing straight through him? Anyone else would be completely oblivious. All he had to do was bat his eyelashes a few times and he got what he wanted. Sure, he liked a challenge, but this man was just a nuisance.

"Well, I'm sure," Arthur sneered. "If you're so against the idea, that Gwen will willingly oblige."

Merlin glared back at the blond. "That was way below the belt, Arthur."

The man shrugged back. "You took it to that point."

"You know the only reason she doesn't see right through you is because she seems to think, for some unknown reason, that she's in love with you."

Arthur snorted. "How silly, what a childish thing to think. A woman her age should know that love is just a childhood fairytale."

"Is that really what you think?" Merlin asked, eyebrows raised, honestly surprised to hear the blond man's reaction.

"Don't tell me you're into all that wishy-washy 'love at first sight' bullshit?" Arthur asked despairingly.

Merlin shrugged. "This isn't about me, it's about Gwen. And Gwen definitely eats up all that 'bullshit', as you put it so delicately."

"Love. Doesn't. Work." Arthur said slowly and surely, looking straight back into the dark haired boy's blue eyes, as the movie played silently in the background.

"How do you know?" Merlin shot back accusingly. "What makes you such an expert on the matter?"

Arthur sat back in his seat, taking a bite of his Mars bar. "Well, let's just say this: all of the couples I've ever know, have ended up separate."

"What about your parents?" Merlin asked quite innocently, wholly unaware of the reaction such a question might trigger.

Arthur stiffened in his seat, eyes wandering to the carpet, away from the other man's intense gaze. "My mother died in childbirth: I never knew her."

Merlin took a laboured breath in; unable to believe the bombshell that Arthur had just dropped. It triggered something in him; a sympathy, a compassion that he wasn't used to feeling for someone he barely knew. Arthur just always seemed to get to him. When he was around him, he suddenly became this sensitive, volatile person who snapped at nothing. He felt vulnerable and stripped down; like Arthur could get anything he wanted out of him. And he would let him.

"I don't usually tell people this," Merlin said, also letting his gaze drop to the floor. "Especially people I don't know very well, but I, also, grew up in a single parent family."

Their gaze met once again, electricity charging the tension filled room.

"My father died a few weeks after I was born." He finished rather breathlessly.

Arthur adjusted his seat, unconsciously edging closer to his pale companion. He hadn't expected to find such a connection between the two of them and, although his game voice told him that he could use this to his advantage, something deeper felt as if he had found something more in this strange young man. Something that he'd never had before.

"It's hard," The blond said quietly. "Isn't it?"

Merlin nodded. "Really hard."

There was a short, amicable silence, as the two male's minds raced.

"It feels really unfair, sometimes." Merlin admitted, digging deeper than he had ever intended to go. "That everyone else had the chance to meet their parents and to get to know them-"

"But that chance was stolen from us." Arthur finished his sentence, smiling softly.

Merlin took a deep breath. "Exactly."

Another silence followed before Merlin found it in himself to speak again.

"Look, Arthur." Merlin said quietly. "You have no reason to worry. I have no intention in helping you but I might as well tell you this."

He looked into the blond's eyes with a sincerity that Arthur hadn't seen before. "Morgana wants Percival gone this week, not you. And, as long as you don't anger her too much more, it'll stay that way."

Arthur's game face kicked in and voiced itself before he could stop it. "You know, we can't be allies."

"I know." Merlin nodded, before Arthur could take anything back. "It's just... I always thought, if things had been different, we would have been friends."

Arthur felt his mouth go dry but, somehow, he mustered some sort of reply. "Maybe, one day."

* * *

><p>The movie went on, ignored by the two contestants. They talked for hours, about various subjects that came up, almost at random. They ate and laughed and chatted and even played catch with their sweets. By the end of it, though neither one of them would have admitted it aloud, they had both enjoyed themselves thoroughly and Arthur – though perhaps not as he had expected it – decided that his mission had been successful.<p>

'_Although,_' He thought to himself, as he lay in his bed that night. '_I can't help but feel as if something else, something more, has happened._'

* * *

><p>"So," Morgana started, sitting in the kitchen with Merlin, Lancelot, Freya, Morgause and Gwen. "How was the movie?"<p>

Merlin automatically tensed up at the very mention of it. "It was... fine."

Morgana raised her eyebrows, easily picking up on the accidental hesitation that Merlin had inserted in his statement.

"Hey, Merlin," Before Morgana could say any more, Gwen interrupted. "I think it's time for bed."

Merlin sighed but nodded, already knowing far too well what Gwen was after. Moments later they lay, side by side, in their beds and Merlin felt far more uncomfortable than he had ever felt with Arthur.

"So..." Gwen began, trying desperately to sound subtle. "Do you have anything to tell me...?"

Merlin sighed once again. "I tried to talk to him, but I couldn't really get much out of him without giving the game away."

"Oh..." She sounded disappointed, more so than she'd probably ever admit. "Well, thanks for trying, I guess."

"No problem." He replied softly, though he doubted she heard him.

'_Come on, Merlin._' He told himself. '_You don't want to admit it but, you actually quite like the guy._'

'_The truth is,_' He thought, holding his duvet closer to his chest, as if it might protect him from the thoughts that threatened to overtake his mind. '_You meant what you said._'

And that revelation scared him more than he cared to admit.


	7. Days Ten to Fifteen

** Fuck, you guys have been patient. Luckily, all of my exams are over now! Truth is, I didn't really kick myself into action with this story until I had a fairly recent anonymous reviewer. So, whoever you were, thank you! It is thanks to your nagging that this chapter is now here and it's the longest one to date.**

** However, it may still be that updates are less frequent. I don't see fanfiction as a hobby; fanfiction is my practise. I see fanfiction as a chance to perfect my personal writing style because it's hardly my ambition to be a great fanfiction writer. Lately, I've been working harder on my original work, as I believe I've said before. And that, I'm afraid, will always take first place.**

** In addition, I must thank all of you for your kind words. I'm not so sure I deserve the compliments you've given me.**

** Now, while I've got the chance, I'll rant a little. So far, I haven't had anyone criticize my choice of pairing/setting, but I still want to defend it. The harsh truth is that Arthur and Merlin, no matter how compatible they are, will never be 'together' in their canon world. As a fanfiction writer, it is my duty to create a setting in which I believe they could end up together. That's what I've done here. I've given them a fresh start, plenty of time and a bit of tension. In addition, something that bothers me regularly is when authors make one of the characters gay or bisexual. Neither Arthur, nor Merlin, is bisexual or gay in this story. I don't think either of them would ever be attracted to men in general, just each other. Love knows no boundaries and there are **_**always **_**exceptions.**

** Anyway, I hope you enjoy the update; it's better than last time. I'll be honest, I wasn't happy with the last chapter and I'll probably go back and tweak it a little. Nevertheless, thank you and enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Arthur, as per usual, didn't sleep much that night. Merlin's words should have comforted him; his words should have been enough to quash all of his fears. Unfortunately, even the sincerity he'd seen in the dark-haired man's blue eyes hadn't been enough to completely rid his mind of doubt. It wasn't that he didn't trust Merlin, though he continued to tell himself that he did not, it was more that he didn't trust Morgana. He'd already had enough surprises, he wasn't about to let her take him by surprise too, he'd never live it down. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Eventually, in the early hours of the next morning, he managed to get a few winks of sleep.<p>

* * *

><p>Unlike Arthur, Merlin had slept quite soundly that night. He knew, already, that – no matter what he did – he wasn't going to be put up for eviction. If anything, he was excited about the whole thing; it was about time Percival got what was coming to him. Though, he had realised, slightly earlier on, that Morgana was likely to also nominate either Elyan or Gwaine. He had no vendetta against either of these men but, then again...<p>

'_Everyone's going to vote for Percival to leave anyway._' He told himself. '_So it really doesn't matter who's put up against him._'

He sighed; if the nominations were as predictable as he anticipated then he had nothing to worry about. Still, he couldn't help but think back to Arthur and how desperate he was to confirm his safety.

'_I guess I'm not the only one who wants to win badly._'

* * *

><p>The next time the two young men came face to face, it was nine in the morning and they were sitting opposite one another at the round table with all the other houseguests. They awkwardly avoided each other's gaze, as Morgana slowly lifted the circular contraption that the producer's had deemed necessary for these nominations.<p>

"It's time for the second nominations ceremony to begin." She said clearly, after placing the key-filled cylinder on the table. "I will pull the first key and that person will continue by pulling the next, and so on."

Merlin took a deep breath, but it was laboured and his hands were shaking, despite the fact that he knew he had nothing to worry about.

'_It's just the atmosphere,_' He told himself. '_Nothing more._'

"Let's begin." Morgana's voice harshly forced Merlin back into reality. Her confidence was rather striking, Merlin realised as he watched her reach for the first key. In her place, he would have been very different, certainly more nervous and jittery. Morgana was different though, perhaps it was the way she had been brought up. Either way, her poise, elegance and eloquence was outstanding. In all aspects, she was the perfect woman and yet, Merlin knew he would never be romantically attracted to her. He smiled, as the dark-haired woman read out the name printed on the key.

"Morgause."

Her blonde teammate instinctively stood up and took her key from Morgana. "Thank you." She said modestly, smiling softly to her ally.

* * *

><p>Arthur rolled his eyes. '<em>Well that's not surprising.<em>' He thought. Though, it was strange to think that, this time last week, it was Morgause's fate that had been in question. Even she had known, before it had happened, that she would be up for eviction. It was disturbing, almost, to see how quickly things could change.

Arthur took a deep breath, as Morgause pulled out the next key. His fingers were crossed under the table, his heart pounding with fear.

'_You've got to learn to calm down,_' He told himself. '_You can't be like this every week._'

"Merlin."

He felt his whole body shrug back in his seat, as the young man took his key from the now sombre blonde. Arthur scowled, Merlin had seemed so nervous, but for what reason? He had no reason to worry at all! If anyone had something to worry about it was Arthur, not that stupid big-eared artist.

* * *

><p>The feeling of sweet relief had washed over Merlin as soon as he heard his name being called. It was almost comical but, in this game, you never knew quite what was going to happen. He grinned to Gwen, who smiled back weakly, obviously concerned for her own fate. As he pulled out the next key and read out the name on it, he knew she didn't need to be.<p>

"Gwen."

* * *

><p>'<em>How sweet.<em>' Arthur thought sarcastically, his patience waning. Maybe this was what it felt like to be on your period.

He shuddered.

The dark skinned lady took her key from Merlin quite happily, until her eyes flicked to Arthur. Seeing his frown, she gave him a sympathetic smile. Arthur had come to recognise this warmth emanating from her whenever she looked at him, a warmth he wasn't sure he recognised. But it only lasted for a few seconds at a time and was gone as soon as it had come.

Gwen diverted her attention to the next key, wasting no time in pulling it from its hole. An even brighter smile bloomed on her face when she read it.

"Arthur."

* * *

><p>Merlin smiled weakly, exchanging a knowing look with Morgana. She was a good friend to Gwen, it was a shame that Gwen would never realise that this convenient order was much more than coincidence. He watched Gwen hand the key over to Arthur, their hands touching briefly. He saw Gwen shiver and looked away.<p>

It felt as if he was seeing something that he shouldn't. If Gwen wasn't so obvious about her feelings he'd feel guilty about telling Arthur everything. No, that was bullshit. He did feel guilty. He felt fucking terrible. Gwen had been nothing but open and loyal to him and he'd just blurted her biggest secret to the one person he definitely couldn't justify telling.

* * *

><p>Arthur sighed; he couldn't help but feel like he'd gotten himself into something much more complex than he could have ever comprehended. But, for now, he was just going to be happy that he'd got himself through another week. Fuck the drama, he was here to win.<p>

Pushing aside all the questions running rampant in his mind, he glanced at Percival. The man looked more and more concerned with all of the keys that were being pulled out.

'_You won't escape this time._'

* * *

><p>It came as a surprise to neither Arthur, nor Merlin, that Percival was left in the final two. The real mystery was who would be left to standoff with him. In the end, only Percival and Gwaine were left, sitting at the round table without a key hanging around their necks. Percival looked as pissed off as one would expect, but Gwaine looked surprisingly calm.<p>

'_Figures,_' Merlin mused. '_There's really no question as to who would leave._'

At the same time, Arthur thought along the same lines. '_I guess the only question left is: what will happen at the Veto competition?_'

* * *

><p>"I don't think that it'll come as a surprise to anyone," Morgana started once all the keys had been given out. "That I've decided to nominate, firstly, Percival."<p>

Her icy blue eyes focused on the great hulk of a man sitting directly opposite her. Merlin shuddered, the hatred Morgana felt for that man was incomprehensible. This game evoked the most intense emotions in all of them, it was really quite scary.

"You've been unfair, rude and extremely offensive to many of us here. Not the mention the fact that, last week, you turned on my team mates. This, Percival is what you deserve."

Morgana turned to Gwaine and gave him a weak smile. "Gwaine, I'd like to apologise, but someone had to sit in that chair and it just happened to be you. Truthfully, it was a tossup between you and Elyan. But I can promise you, right now,"

She smirked. "You will not go home."

There was a short silence that followed, in which everyone look in the true meaning of what she'd just said, eyes flicking from Morgana to Percival to Gwaine.

"That concludes the Nomination ceremony."

* * *

><p>Soon enough, Merlin found himself sitting outside on the lawn with Gwen, Lancelot, Morgause, Freya and Morgana.<p>

"I'm so happy," Morgana exclaimed, beaming. "I feel so free now that I've finally done it!"

"Done what?" Merlin asked.

The dark-haired woman smirked at him, cocking her head with contrasting innocence. "Confirmed Percival's departure."

Gwen opened her mouth to speak.

"Would Merlin please come to the diary room."

The man in question grimaced and let his shoulders sag in annoyance. His friends laughed at him.

"Is it just me," Lancelot started, as Merlin stood to leave. "Or do you get called twice as much as the rest of us?"

"No," Gwen beat Merlin to his reply. "Come to think of it, Arthur gets called an awful lot too."

Merlin frowned, that was true, but what did it mean?

"Hm." Morgana hummed in a disapproving manner.

"Well, I better go." He said, finally, still frowning.

By the time he sat down in front of the camera, he was only just beginning to realise the pattern that his comrades had pointed out. Was it supposed to imply that he and Arthur were getting more screen time? Or that, perhaps, the general public were in favour of them. He bit on his bottom lip, what could it mean?

"Is something wrong, Merlin?" He looked up when he heard the sound of the producer's voice.

Merlin forced a smile. "No, nothing."

"Good." The reply came quickly. "We'll try not to keep you for too long today, but we do have a few questions for you."

"Okay." Merlin replied cautiously. They'd never asked more than one question at a time.

"All the questions we're going to ask you have been asked by fans of the show but, if you don't feel comfortable answering them, you don't have to. Do you understand?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I understand."

"Then let's get started." The voice sounded annoyingly calm, given the mystery of the situation. "The first question that we picked from suggestions was: what label do you use for your sexuality?"

The question caught Merlin so off guard, he couldn't prevent the blood that rushed to his cheeks. Anyone would have blushed when asked a question like that out of the blue, especially in front of a camera, but the answer came easily.

Now, this answer might surprise many of you, due to all that has occurred and the assumptions you will have, doubtlessly, made. It is only to be expected, with the audience of a story such as this. But, and now I must be clear, the answer Merlin gave was not merely a reflex. It was an answer that he believed truly and wholeheartedly.

"Straight, of course!" He finally managed to reply, when the heat in his cheeks had died down. And he meant it. Merlin was completely and wholly straight.

The producer coughed, obviously not pleased with his answer.

Merlin frowned. '_Had they honestly expected anything else? That's what I put on the questionnaire during the application process._'

"Okay, let's continue." The producer's voice interrupted his train of thought. "The second question that the general public was eager to ask you was: who do you feel is your most trustworthy friend in the house?"

Merlin smiled weakly. "Gwen, though I don't feel I'm worthy of that trust."

There was a short silence and a distant sound of pages being turned.

"And lastly, the final question we have for you is: who do you think will leave this week?"

'_Finally, an easy question._'

"Percival, definitely. If he doesn't leave this week, then Morgana will find _some _way to remove him." He laughed weakly, but none of it felt sincere. He was far too troubled by the first question to feel comfortable.

All I can say now is that he was glad when he finally got out.

* * *

><p>Less than half an hour after Merlin left the diary room to rejoin his companions, Arthur was called in.<p>

"Good morning, Arthur," The producer greeted him. "We're going to ask you three questions today, but we'll try not to keep you for too long."

Arthur nodded. "Okay."

"Then, let's begin. The first question and, you may be interested to know, the most asked question by the general public for you was: how would you label your sexuality?"

Arthur froze. He definitely hadn't been ready for that. Willing the blush that threatened to surface away, he answered quite easily and, once again, I can assure you that his answer was entirely truthful and sincere.

"Straight."

The producer sniffed; obviously displeased with the answers he'd been given. But what bothered him even more was that both of these men seemed to be telling the truth. This was not what his audience wanted to hear, but what could he do?

"Okay, second question: are you interested in pursuing a relationship or any other type of romantic connection with Gwen?"

"No," Arthur's reply was quick and sure. "I'm not here to make friends or start a relationship with someone. However, that doesn't mean I won't use her feelings to my advantage."

'_That sounds a bit more like him._' The producer thought with a smirk.

"And the last question is: who do you think will be leaving this week?"

Arthur relaxed and leaned back in his seat. "Percival, definitely. Nothing he can do will persuade enough people to vote for Gwaine to leave."

"Okay, thank you Arthur." The producer finished. "You may go now."

* * *

><p>'<em>What the fuck was that?<em>' Arthur thought as he walked out of the diary room. '_Why would anyone want to know __**that**__?_'

He took a deep breath. '_Okay, let's calm down now, Arthur, and focus on the competition._'

It felt like it was about time he made some allies, rather than being everyone's enemy. And he knew just the relationship he could manipulate to his advantage.

Feeling a little more uncomfortable than he'd like to admit, he wandered outside into the garden and approached the circle of people sitting together on the grass together.

"Hey, guys." He said quite calmly, sitting down beside Gwen.

* * *

><p>Merlin saw Morgana frown as soon as Arthur stepped out into the garden. It didn't come as a surprise to any of them that he chose to sit next to Gwen, rather than anyone else. Merlin scowled.<p>

"Hey, guys."

The blond greeted them so casually, as if they'd been friends from the very beginning.

But Morgana wasn't having it.

"What is it, Arthur?" She glared at him venomously.

Her hostility towards Arthur had always puzzled Merlin. It was obvious that they had some sort of deeper connection, a reason why they knew each other outside of the house however, for whatever reason; this didn't seem to make them allies. Neither of them, in fact, even seemed willing to admit just what that link was.

Arthur sighed at Morgana's response, obviously not surprised. "I'm here to make a truce."

Morgana narrowed her eyes. "Why would we be interested in creating a truce with _you_?"

"Because I've been screwed over by Percival too," His reply was quick; he'd obviously considered it all carefully. "And because, as a strong physical competitor, I can guarantee you safety when I become HOH."

"How do you know you'll definitely become HOH one day?" Merlin chipped in before Morgana had a chance.

Arthur grinned at him, his naturally smug exterior hiding his true discomfort. "Because, once Percival is evicted – and he _will _be evicted – I'll be the _strongest_ physical contender in this house."

"But how do we know that we can trust you?" Lancelot asked, obviously not convinced.

Arthur leaned back on the grass. "Because I have no grudge against you guys and because I'm all for getting revenge against Percival and the Athletes."

Morgana pressed her lips together and looked around the group, stopping at Morgause; her teammate, obviously looking for a second opinion.

The blonde lady shrugged. "We've got nothing to lose at the moment. There's no guarantee that one of _us _won't win next week."

Morgana turned back to Arthur. "Okay, you've convinced us. You're in."

Arthur grinned triumphantly. "Awesome."

* * *

><p>Percival wasn't happy. He wasn't happy at all. At the moment, it seemed that nothing could help him escape this week, except the Veto. No amount of persuasion would convince Morgana to help him and, should he end up being put to the vote, there was no way he could survive. There were just too many of them now, especially given that Lancelot and Arthur had abandoned them for the other side of the house.<p>

"There's no choice, guys." He said, looking from Elyan to Gwaine. "We _have _to win the Veto, so that you can take me off the block."

Gwaine frowned. "Or me."

"No," Percival shook his head. "You have to take me off. There's no way I could get through a vote, you could Gwaine. You could make it."

Gwaine looked as if he'd wanted to speak, but he closed his mouth and glanced at Elyan. He just wasn't down with that, but he knew that he'd never change Percival's mind. The man was far too self-absorbed to think about all of them as individuals, it was always about him. Well, maybe it was time someone knocked him down a step or two.

* * *

><p>For most of the contestants, very little came to pass the next day. It wasn't until the day after that that they'd have the chance to compete in the Veto competition. However, Merlin and Arthur weren't 'most' of the contestants and so; the following day was far more significant to them than anyone else.<p>

It all started out quite innocently. Merlin woke up early, despite the fact that he should have been completely at ease by now. Everything was going to plan and, besides, Veto wasn't until the following day. They all had a day to relax and take some time out. So why didn't he feel relaxed?

He made his escape as soon as he woke up, for fear that Gwen would wake up with the intention to gossip further about Arthur. He just couldn't take discussing that damn man when he felt so guilty. In fact, being around Gwen was beginning to be a struggle in itself, especially with Arthur around 24/7. He had absolutely no idea how he'd deal with this whole 'truce' scenario at all.

So he fled to the kitchen, definitely not expecting to see the one man he'd hoped to avoid sitting there, eating a bowl of cereal. Merlin froze for a second, wondering if he'd been seen but, when he realised that Arthur was completely oblivious to his presence, he just turned around. Perhaps gossiping with Gwen wasn't such a bad idea.

"Merlin?"

'_Crap._'

Merlin forced a smile as he turned back to face his companion.

"Ah, Arthur." He took a few cautious steps towards the kitchen. "... I didn't see you there."

The blond raised his eyebrows, obviously not buying his weak excuse. "Sure... why don't you join me?"

Merlin froze once again, but how could he say no? This man was an ally now, even if he was still a bit of a prat.

He sighed. "Okay."

He strode past Arthur and fetched the orange juice out of the fridge to pour himself a drink.

"It's been a while."

The sound of Arthur's voice caused him to jump, spilling a small amount of the juice on the kitchen counter. He took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself and cleaned up the spilt juice with some kitchen roll.

"I-it has."

"I suppose..." The blond trailed off, pushing the cereal around in the bowl with his spoon. "I should probably thank you."

Merlin looked at him questioningly, coming to sit beside the man. "Why?" He asked cautiously.

Arthur grinned. "Because you were right, about everything."

He couldn't keep the smirk off his face at that. "I usually am."

Arthur smirked right back at him, with a strange curl of the lips. "Whatever."

"Y'know," Merlin put down his glass. "You didn't have to do all that 'truce' shit. You would've got through this week just fine without it."

Arthur's spoon fell into his bowl with a clank, causing both men to jump slightly.

"I know," Arthur assured him after a small pause. "That wasn't why I did it."

"Then why?"

Arthur pressed his lips together and smiled sympathetically. "Sorry, I don't talk strategy to the competition."

"Whatever." Merlin shrugged, took another sip from his glass of orange juice and stood up to leave. "I'm going to go take a shower."

The blond opened his mouth to speak again but, by the time he found the words, Merlin was already gone.

* * *

><p>Arthur was outside when it happened, taking the chance to sunbathe in the rare good weather. He wasn't particularly surprised to see Gwen, who came to join him in the garden. To begin with, he left her to sit on the decking, reading a book with a small smile on her lips. The idea itself didn't come to him immediately, it grew slowly. It was almost impossible to ignore the supposedly 'sly' looks she was giving him every few minutes. There was no way he could just sit there. This situation was just too perfect.<p>

With a smug smile on his face, he called out to her and beckoned her to come next to him. Slowly, but surely, she came to sit beside him on the grass.

"H-Hey." She was obviously rather nervous, a trait that Arthur found endearing when he was younger. Over half a decade and many, many women later, he no longer found himself attracted to those kinds of mousy, shy women. Still, he knew how to fake attraction.

He smiled suggestively. "Hey. What are you reading?"

"Oh," She picked up the forgotten book that had fallen to her lap. "Romeo and Juliet; just a little Shakespeare."

He felt his soul cry with frustration, could she be any more off-putting? To be fair, she didn't know about his revulsion to all things associated with 'love'. Still, could she be any more obvious about her feelings for him? She wasn't exactly subtle and subtlety was something that Arthur had come to appreciate over the last few years.

The blond forced a smile, but couldn't hold back his true opinion as much as he would have liked. "Interesting, though I prefer Macbeth, myself."

"I see." She smiled weakly.

"So," He sat up, fingers locked around grass, as he emphasized his stomach muscles; an act that certainly didn't serve to comfort Guinevere's nerves. "How are you feeling about the competition?"

Anyone else would've politely, or perhaps otherwise, refused to answer, but this was Gwen. She would do anything Arthur asked of her because why would such a lovely man betray her trust? Our poor little Gwen was far too naïve for her own good; she didn't see Arthur for what he truly was. Unfortunately, she was nothing but a lamb subject to the cunning of a lion and very beautiful lion at that.

"I-it's okay," She smiled, hands shaking around her thin paper-back book. "Things seem to be going well."

"Yeah, they do." He trailed off, before bursting back into animated conversation. "Hey, I bet you'll get HOH or Veto soon!"

Her brown eyes lit up. "R-really? You think so?"

"Of course," He smirked, this was all too easy. "And, _when _you end up winning one of these contests, I'm sure you'd be willing to help out your friends, right?"

She looked a little shocked, like a deer caught in headlights, but still nodded eagerly. He didn't have long to take in his victory though, because, no sooner had she stopped nodding, an almighty '_bang_' resounded around the garden. Both of them looked up simultaneously to the sound of the noise, to see a furious Merlin glaring from the doorstep.

* * *

><p>He hadn't meant to walk in on anything; he just wanted to get some air. He may, also, have had an inkling (or two) that Arthur was outside, but he had no idea that Gwen was there too, otherwise he certainly would have avoided that situation. And, when he'd opened the door, and heard everything Arthur had said, especially when the pair were sitting so closely together, something inside him had just snapped.<p>

They all knew what Arthur had really meant; he wanted Gwen to help him just in case she was ever put in a position of power. He was manipulating Gwen to save his own arse and she still had no idea that his advances were completely insincere. Merlin couldn't just sit there and watch his friend fall helplessly into the arms of an evil master; it just wasn't right! Because his affection for Guinevere _was _sincere, he genuinely cared about her; despite the fact that he knew it was a weakness.

And that was why he'd slammed the door as hard as he could, to finally catch their attention.

'_Good,_' he thought with a scowl, as they jumped in their seats. '_He deserves to be embarrassed._'

Thoroughly enjoying the shocked look on Arthur's face, he approached the lounging couple and grabbed Gwen by her arm to pull her up to a standing position.

"Come on, Gwen," He hissed, scowling at the blond. "There's something I want to show you, _inside_."

The dark-haired woman jumped to her feet with a frown. "But-"

"We were just having a conversation, if you don't mind." Arthur finished the sentence for her.

Gwen opened her mouth to talk but Merlin beat her to it. "Gwen, inside now."

At the sound of Merlin's surprisingly sharp tone, Gwen obeyed and made her way to exit the garden. Merlin, thus, directed his venomous glare at Arthur instead.

"What is your problem?" The blond spat, coming to stand on his feet beside the dark-haired man.

Merlin scowled. "I'm not going to just stand here and watch you control my friend by using her convenient feelings for you."

"It's simple strategy." Arthur reasoned, taking an intimidating step towards his pale rival. "Deal with it."

Merlin's scowl grew, though that didn't seem possible. "I am."

It was then that he suddenly took in Arthur's ridiculously under-dressed torso and there was absolutely nothing he could do to prevent the tomato red flush that penetrated his cheeks. He turned on his heels and stormed out of the garden.

"And put a damn shirt on!" But not without shouting that before slamming the door shut once again.

* * *

><p>Arthur was left confused and extremely shocked. Sure, he knew Merlin was headstrong and stubborn, but he'd never anticipated anything like that before. He'd never had someone who was willing to do that before. Still, it wasn't really that big a deal; Gwen would never believe him, her feelings were too strong at this point and, unfortunately, her friendship with Merlin was waning.<p>

He frowned, slipping his shirt back on. Merlin's sudden reaction before leaving had been rather perplexing as well.

Even so, losing his fragile friendship with Merlin wasn't such a loss, surely. It wasn't like he was really that _fond _of the man, or that he respected him in any way. He didn't think about him that much or look forward to the time they spent together. It was no _major _loss.

And he told himself that, he told himself that a million times. But, no matter how many times he repeated those lines to himself, they never became true. Despite his firm denial, he couldn't help but feel as if he'd lost something important. Not that he was even that sure what exactly it was.

* * *

><p>"What on earth were you thinking?" Merlin ranted once they were alone in their room. "Why the hell would you agree to something like that?"<p>

"Why do you think, Merlin?" She argued back, equally riled up. "Because _I like him_, obviously!"

"But don't you see it, Gwen, don't you see it?"

She looked frustratingly confused. "See what?"

He took a deep breath; this had been a long time coming, but he wasn't sure Gwen was ready to hear it. Regardless, she was going to.

"He's using you, Gwen." He said calmly, taking in a big breath. "He knows about your... _feelings _and he's using them to get what he wants from you."

She froze for a good few seconds before responding. "W-what? H-how would he know that?"

Merlin felt his mouth go dry, but he couldn't afford to hesitate for too long.

"You weren't exactly being _subtle_, were you?" He suddenly snapped scathingly, but his attempt to cover his mistake only seemed to make her more upset.

The tears began to surface. "W-what do you mean? What do you know?"

Hands clenched, she glared at him. "I-I don't believe you." And she promptly stormed out of the room.

'_Fuck._' Merlin felt his whole body sag; that wasn't how it was meant to go.

* * *

><p>"Will Arthur please come to the diary room."<p>

Usually, hearing his name being called was an annoyance but, at that moment, it was a godsend. For some reason, his fight with Merlin had triggered an immovable feeling of emptiness inside him. It was less than an hour later, but he was still sitting outside in the garden, thinking about what happened.

He stood up, brushed the grass off his back and made his way back into the house.

"Hello, Arthur," The producer said as soon as his butt touched the seat, the smirk on his face was evident in his voice. "It's nice to see you _with _a shirt on."

The blond scowled. "Just ask the damn questions."

"Fine, fine." The man behind the camera chuckled. "We just want a statement on the fight today. What happened from your perspective? We'll take it from there."

Arthur sighed. "Okay. All that happened was that I was having a _private _conversation with Guinevere, when Merlin decided, very rudely, to interrupt. Nothing more."

"Oh-kay," The producer obviously wasn't buying it. "And how does this argument make you feel?"

The blond rolled his eyes, were these 'confessions' supposed to turn out this cliché? "I feel fine. It's really not that big a deal."

"You know, Arthur, you don't have to lie in here." The voice was suddenly surprisingly soft. "No one is going to know what you say in here."

He paused, trying desperately to hold up his resolve, but it was useless. He sighed.

"I know, but I don't want the audience to see me as being weak either." The blond smiled sadly. "It's not a big deal, h-he didn't mean that much."

"I see." The producer cleared his throat. "You can go now, if you want."

He stood up and left, with no idea what to do next.

* * *

><p>Not long after, Merlin was also called into the diary room and, similarly, it was more of a relief than a burden. Given his fight with Gwen, he had little to do but trail idly around the house with Morgana and Morgause. He couldn't even muster the inspiration to draw anything, the tension was so overwhelming. So, when that booming voice echoed around every room of the house, he practically ran to the diary room. At least, there, he'd be able to get out some of his conflicting feelings.<p>

"Good afternoon, Merlin."

He smiled weakly. "Good afternoon."

"All we need, for now, is a statement about the argument this morning." The producer started, sounding surprisingly upbeat. The footage he'd collected from Arthur had been better than expected; it was definite trailer material. All he had to do now was get the same thing from Merlin, plus, he never got tired of talking and teasing these two. "We'll add more from there."

"Okay," Merlin began, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Well everyone, even the audience, probably realised, a long time ago, that Gwen has feelings for Arthur. Unfortunately, Arthur seemed to realise too... well, that and I told him."

The dark-haired man flushed. "But it was pretty obvious anyway! And, when I walked out into the garden, I realised immediately what Arthur was doing. I couldn't just stand and watch my friend be manipulated like that! So I intervened."

"And then had your own argument with Guinevere?"

Merlin nodded. "She wasn't very grateful for the help; she's too good-natured to see the real Arthur, unfortunately."

"Now, obviously," The voice continued. "The fight occurred only a few hours ago, but I'm sure the effect has been evident. So, would you please explain to the camera who you miss the most and why."

Merlin paused to think over the question, his immediate reaction wouldn't be appropriate, wouldn't be rational.

"You don't have to think about your answers here, Merlin," The producer's voice cut off his train of thought. "No one will have to know."

'_He's right,_' Merlin thought, taking a deep breath. These confessions were kind of like therapy sessions; he was supposed to say how he really felt here; no matter how odd it sounded.

The dark-haired man flushed. "It's strange, but I miss Arthur more. Don't get me wrong, I miss Gwen a lot too, but I just feel like, despite what's seen on the surface, Arthur and I had a stronger connection."

"Thank you," The man behind the camera said a few moments later, the smile on his face heard clearly in his voice. "You may go now."

Whatever he was so happy about, Merlin didn't know, but he happily escaped from that small, alcove-like room in the end.

* * *

><p>Things progressed as one would expect; they avoided one another, didn't speak, didn't even dare to look at each another, just in case their resolve broke from the mere sight of one another. Arthur spent the majority of his time working out; a method he'd discovered a few years ago that seemed to be the only solution to any anger he had. Merlin, on the other hand, attempted to draw, but nothing seemed to be clicking properly still. Everything seemed to be going wrong and, eventually, he just gave up.<p>

Nothing else of note occurred until the next day; the day of the Veto competition.

* * *

><p>"It time for the Veto competition!"<p>

This week, everyone scrambled to the living room much quicker than on the previous week. For some, their existence in the competition was at stake, for others it was a distraction from _other _events. Unfortunately, Merlin's good luck seemed to be continuing to run out because, when he finally reached the living room, the space next to Arthur was the only one left. He averted his eyes from the blond, sat down and stubbornly shuffled away as far as he possibly could.

Morgana already had the small paper bag in her hands, filled with the names of the contestants.

"The two nominees, as well as myself, will participate in the Veto competition. As HOH, I will pick the first additional competitor."

She stuffed her hand into the bag and pulled out the first piece of paper her fingers touched. She frowned at the sight of the name.

"Elyan."

The dark-skinned man stood up, smiling in a friendly manner to her; a surprise in itself. She scowled and passed the bag to his teammate: Percival, who was now grinning from ear to ear. He quickly picked a piece of paper, but frowned in a similar fashion to Morgana at the sight of the name written on it.

"Guinevere."

Everyone turned to look at the woman in question, who promptly flushed. Merlin fidgeted awkwardly, this didn't bode well. Percival had _both _of his teammates playing for him and they had... Gwen. She was a lovely person, no doubt, but hardly a formidable competitor. No, they needed someone more competitive, stronger and certainly more determined to win. Unfortunately, given his current predicament and non-existent luck, that would surely never happen.

Gwaine, still smiling happily like the rest of his clique-mates, reached into the paper bag to retrieve his own pick. For some reason, unfathomable to Merlin, his smile only seemed to widen as he read out the name.

"Arthur."

Merlin wasn't sure if the outcome was a nightmare or a godsend, probably both. Either way, the blond beside him stiffened considerably in his seat, but, somehow, managed to plaster a weak smile on his face. He obviously hadn't been expecting that, just watching the competition probably would have been a lot easier. Still, he would take Gwaine down from nominations if push came to shove, right? Probably, he seemed to want to get rid of Percival as much as the next person, but, the real question was; who would he put up in Gwaine's place?

'_Could be anyone_,' Merlin thought. '_Sneaky bastard._'

Morgana smiled weakly, things hadn't gone as well as she'd hoped. "I've picked Morgause to be the presenter for this competition, so let's go out into the garden to see what the challenge is."

The contestants trailed behind her out into the garden. Surprisingly, the transformation wasn't so dramatic that week. There were large piles of coins dotted around the garden and, when I say 'large', I mean _massive_. There were thousands, probably tens of thousands of coins in each pile and each pile was specific to a particular type of coin. In addition, there was a large machine in the centre of the garden that looked identical to the money-counting contraptions you see at the supermarket and, of course, the usual podium for whoever presented the competition.

They gathered in the centre of the garden, while Morgause made her way up to the podium.

"Okay! Welcome to the second Veto competition!" The contestants who weren't playing cheered and then quietened to allow the blonde to continue. "In this competition the contestants will be asked to collect a specific amount of money using a particular type of coin. You will have sixth seconds in which to do this. At the end of each round, we will count the money using this machine and the person whose amount is furthest away from the target will be eliminated. This will continue until there is only one person left and he, or she, will be granted the power of Veto!"

Those participating nodded their heads to show they understood the rules, while the rest of the houseguests made their way to a bench placed in front of the scene for them to watch.

"Who do you think will win?" Lancelot whispered to Merlin when they sat down.

He shrugged. "It could be anyone. It's not really a physical competition."

The blond nodded in agreement. "I think Arthur's in with a chance."

The dark-haired man frowned. "I suppose."

Sensing his friend's discomfort, Lancelot said no more, as they concentrated on the competition instead.

"Okay," Morgause continued. "Everyone pick up a bucket."

The contestants each did as she asked, and stood in a line holding their blue buckets to their chests.

"For our first round, I would like you to collect £10 in two pence coins." She pointed to a pile on the far side of the garden containing the copper coins. "Your time starts now."

All six of the competitors sprinted to reach the pile, but, once they reached the sea of coins, each contestant had a different strategy. Percival just seemed to be randomly guessing, dropping as many coins as his hands could carry into the bucket. Gwaine seemed to have adopted a similar strategy, though he was actually attempting to count his coins before putting them into his plastic container. Gwen seemed to be slowly collecting piles of twenty five, in the hope that she might hit the total exactly; unfortunately this method took a lot longer. Morgana seemed to attempt this method also but, upon seeing the clock count down to 15 seconds, merely guessed. Elyan sat and seemed to think about what he did before he did it, but his real method wasn't clear to the naked eye. Arthur's method seemed to be something in between and, though Merlin attempted to ignore his presence completely, he couldn't _not _notice him. The man counted one handful, did the math in his head and then seemed to throw in what he judged to be similar handfuls. Either way, none of them seemed completely certain of their decision when time was finally up.

"One by one you will tip the contents of your buckets into the machine," Morgause instructed once they'd gathered at the centre of the garden again. "The machine will count it and we will see whose total is furthest away."

She smiled. "Morgana, why don't you go first?"

Her teammate smiled back and struggled to lift her bucket to empty its contents, but managed it eventually. Within ten seconds, the amount flashed on the machine's screen.

"£11.64!" Morgause exclaimed. "£1.64 off target. Percival, why don't you go next?"

The large, balding man followed and easily tipped the vast amount of coins in his bucket into the machine. The entire garden was silent except for the small clinking coins hitting the bottom of the machine. Everyone was relieved when they saw the number on the screen.

"£16.08!" The smirk on the blonde presenter's face was evident. "£6.08 off target, shame. Gwaine, you're next."

Looking significantly less nervous, Gwaine emptied his bucket. Unfortunately, his luck also seemed to be running out.

"£18.12!" Morgause announced and Merlin felt his jaw drop. "£8.12 off target, Elyan, why don't you try next,"

How Gwaine had managed to put even more coins in his bucket than Percival, Merlin would never know. It was a bit of a mystery; still, the competition went on. At least it seemed like Percival would be staying on the block.

Elyan looked, as always, strikingly calm as he took his turn to let the machine count his coins and this cool front was rewarded.

"£10.62!" Morgause exclaimed, with considerably less energy. They definitely didn't want _him _winning; god knows what he would do. "Which puts Elyan in the lead! Gwen, why don't you go next?"

The coffee-coloured woman nodded, smiling weakly as she approached the machine. She looked nervous, but who wouldn't be in that situation? Perhaps her more conservative, strategic method would come in handy.

"£10.86!" Morgause smiled sympathetically to her. "Close! But Elyan's still in the lead. Arthur, you're the last contestant."

The blond took a deep, shaky breath. It was going to take a lot to beat Elyan's score, but he was fairly certain he wouldn't be eliminated that round, there was no way he'd put in as much as Percival or Gwaine. He slowly emptied his bucket's contents into the machine. The period between pouring in the coins and waiting for the machine to count them felt much longer than it had been for the other participants.

"£10.22!" Morgause grinned. "Arthur has won this round! Only 22 pence off target. So, that means that Gwaine's out!"

The bearded man shrugged and went to join the rest of the contestants on the bench.

And so, the competition continued. In the second round, they were asked to collect £5 using only one penny coins. Their methods seemed to continue unchanged, despite the fact that many of them needed to improve. Even Percival continued to shovel hoards and hoards of coins into his bucket needlessly.

'_Good,_' Arthur thought, counting his handful of coins once again. '_He'll be eliminated soon enough._'

Things were going fairly well for Arthur; he finished counting his coins before the time was up. He sprinted back to the centre of the garden to wait the couple of seconds left. Absentmindedly, his eyes flickered to the audience of contestants and, as luck would have it, his gaze locked with that of Merlin. It lasted only a few seconds, until the dark-haired man looked away with a frown and the slightest hint of blush on his cheeks. The point being, after that, Arthur found it considerably harder to concentrate.

Fortunately, his place in the competition didn't suffer. Though he didn't win the round, he survived with the second closest total to the aim. Quite honestly, no one was surprised to see Percival be eliminated that round.

In the third round, they were asked to find £50 using ten and twenty pence coins, the challenge being that they still only had sixty seconds to find this money. Thus, a lot more guess work was involved. Unfortunately, the pressure seemed to finally get to Gwen, who hadn't stopped shaking since she was picked to participate. The situation was only made harder by the fact that she was still feeling down about the argument with Merlin. She was the next person to be eliminated.

The competition got a lot tougher from there, with only three of them left: Elyan, Morgana and, of course, Arthur, who was becoming more determined to win with every round that passed. They were asked to find £350 with £1 coins and, to make matters worse, the time allocated was reduced to only 45 seconds. All of them had gotten into the flow of things now and their totals were getting closer and closer to the targets.

"Okay! Morgana," Morgause smiled hopefully at her clique-mate. "Why don't you go first?"

The dark-haired woman nodded wordlessly, the only sign of any nerves she might have, before tipping out the sea of pound coins into the machine. The total flashed on the screen seconds later.

"£335!" Morgause announced gleefully, surely her friend would win! "Elyan; you're next!"

Elyan had probably been the biggest surprise of all; no one had expected him to come so far and win so many rounds. He was the wildcard and a threatening one at that. What made him so intimidating though was the fact that no one was entirely sure of what he would do if he won. _Both _nominees were his teammates, how did he pick which he would save? Still, that problem didn't seem so major at that point in the competition, he hadn't won _yet_.

"£360!" Even Morgause sounded surprised. "Elyan is now in the lead! Okay, Arthur, you are the last one."

Arthur took a deep breath before approaching the machine, this was it, he was nearly there. If he could just beat Morgana, he might be able to win this thing. He slowly tipped the bucket upwards as the coins spilled out. He held his breath.

"£353!" The blonde presenter beside him gasped. "Arthur wins this round, which means, unfortunately, Morgana is eliminated." She smiled sympathetically to her friend, who promptly made her way to sit beside the rest of the contestants.

This was it; the final round; Elyan vs. Arthur and there was no way in fucking hell Arthur was taking silver again.

"Okay, last round," Morgause was looking increasingly nervous, the best outcome now was Arthur winning and even that didn't sound so great. "I want you to find £1000 using two pound coins and we're giving you 90 seconds to do this."

Before he had time to think about what he was doing, Arthur was sprinting over to a pile of gold and silver plated coins. His heart was pounding in his ear, his hands were shaking and his eyes were constantly flicking around the coins in front of him. He had to take a deep breath to calm himself down before beginning his rampant collecting of coins.

* * *

><p>"I hope Arthur wins." Merlin very nearly jumped at the sound of a voice in his ear, but relaxed when he saw that it was Morgana.<p>

"Really?" He forced a smile. "I thought you guys didn't get on?"

She sighed. "We get on just fine, there's just a little... tension. Still, I'd rather him win that Elyan."

Merlin nodded and looked at the blond in question. He was slightly flushed and was breathing quite heavily now, but seemed to be happy with the number of coins he'd collected. Slowly, he dragged his heavy bucket back to the centre of the garden and Elyan followed soon behind.

Despite everything; the fight and blatant hate Merlin felt for much of Arthur's character, he somehow found himself rooting for the man. It was unnatural and completely illogical but, for some unfathomable reason, he still wanted the best for Arthur. There was some link between them, something otherworldly that drew him to the blond, something he couldn't explain. They barely knew each other and yet it felt like they'd spent lifetimes together already, like, somehow, they'd met before. It sounded extremely cliché, like a line from a cheap romantic comedy, but it still rang true, though Merlin tried to deny it at the time.

"Okay, then." Morgause smiled weakly, obviously nervous. "Elyan, why don't do the weigh in first?"

The dark-skinned man nodded, an unreadable expression on his face, as he emptied his bucket for the last time. No one was too surprised at the result.

"£1002!" Morgause exclaimed, it was rather impressive. "Only £2 off. If Arthur wants to win the power of Veto, he'll have to equal that or get exactly £1000."

Arthur took in a shaky breath, stepping up the machine. The pressure on his shoulders was beginning to show, the cracks in his mask beginning to reveal themselves. He had to do this; it was a matter of pride. He couldn't just keep taking second place. His breath was held as he stood back, while the machine counted his money.

"£996! Elyan wins the power of Veto!"

* * *

><p>All of the houseguests celebrated with Elyan, eager to impose their opinions on him and be bestowed with his good graces, all except a certain pair, that is. Arthur, despite his attempts to conceal it, was desperately upset about losing. To be fair, it wasn't the first time he'd come so close to winning and then fallen at the final hurdle. So, after politely congratulating Elyan with a shake on the hand, he'd retreated to sit on the decking with his head in his hands.<p>

Merlin had been on his way on to celebrate with the others when he'd seen Arthur out of the corner of his eye. His first reaction, no; that a lie, his _logical _reaction was to leave the man to his sulking and join his friends. Unfortunately, his _first _reaction was to close the door to the main house behind him and slowly make his way across the grass to the figure on the other side.

Arthur looked up when he heard the dark-haired man sit beside him with a sympathetic smile on his face. The action was a surprising one to say the least, but appreciated nonetheless.

"Sorry about the, uh, competition." Merlin said, averting his gaze to the grass, nails digging into the wood under his hands.

Arthur nodded, forcing a smile. "Yeah and, um, I'm sorry about... y'know." He couldn't actually believe he was doing this. He didn't _need _Merlin, he didn't need to apologise. Still, he felt like he should, being angry with the man didn't feel right either and he certainly didn't enjoy having Merlin be angry with him.

"What?" Merlin was totally oblivious.

"You're really gonna' make me say it?" Arthur sighed. "Fine. I'm sorry about the whole _Gwen_ thing."

Merlin froze. "Really?"

The blond nodded. He could've lied, he told himself it _was_ a lie but, deep down, he knew it wasn't.

A grin broke out on the dark-haired man's face as he stood. "Good." He started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Arthur shouted at him, still sitting on the decking.

"To get my sketchbook!" Merlin called back. "I'm going to draw you."

The blond felt himself flush, luckily Merlin was long gone, closing the door behind him. The silence gave him the chance to note his elevated heart rate; what was up with that? He raised his hand to hold it to his heart but, in the process, he realised that he was shaking. What was wrong with him?

Before he had a chance to read into it, Merlin was back; sprinting to the decking with his sketchbook in one hand and his pencil case in the other.

* * *

><p>Gwen didn't see them until she decided to go get a drink. Her eyes absentmindedly wandered to the garden, through the transparent French doors and there they sat; laughing and joking and playing around together. Merlin had his sketchbook in hand and was obviously trying to hide whatever he had drawn from the blond, but Arthur wasn't having it. She felt the ache of jealously throb. There was just something about the two of them that just seemed to click, like they were supposed to be together. And that did make her jealous, that was what <em>she<em> wanted, though in a more romantic sense. Unfortunately, she would never truly realise the depth of what was going on between them, though, to be fair, it took the two of them long enough to realise it themselves.

They sat out there for a long while, until Merlin felt himself begin to burn and, even then, they just escaped to the living room.

"I hate comedies." Arthur moaned, upon turning on the TV and being faced with a re-run of '_Friends_'.

Merlin put on a look of mock horror. "Blasphemy!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Seriously! American comedy is the worst."

"Maybe you just haven't been watching the right stuff," Merlin reasoned with a shrug. "Have you ever seen '_Scrubs_'?"

The blond shook his head.

"It's really good! It's set in a hospital, which is really interesting. The balance of comedy and drama is perfect too. There's been so many episodes when I've been left crying!" He blurted out before thinking properly about his answer.

Arthur smirked. "Don't tell me, you're the guy who cries at romantic comedies?"

The dark-haired man flushed. "S-shut up."

The blond laughed at his friend, this felt comfortable; it felt good. Apologising felt worthwhile in the end, a surprising revelation for Arthur. But it was only the first of many things that Merlin would teach him.

* * *

><p>They were both called in separately to the diary room that evening, but nothing of importance was said; just that they'd made up. The audience could read into it as much as they wanted. The two men watched television together for a while before parting with small smiles to sleep.<p>

Elsewhere, however, Elyan was being smothered by Percival. Judging from the way Percival was acting, Elyan was sure to take him off the block. Really, it was no surprise; Percival seemed to have an immovable hold over his two teammates. At least, he thought he did.

* * *

><p>Merlin deliberately got up early the next day and the reason why was already sitting in the kitchen when he got there. They chatted happily over breakfast before they were joined by Morgana, Morgause and Guinevere, who had smoothed things over with Merlin the previous night. Eventually, they all trailed out into the garden to soak up the sun and, soon after, Lancelot decided to tag along.<p>

"Percival's going to be taken off the block." Morgana said, pulling at the blades of grass. "I just know it."

Morgause frowned, chewing nervously at her bottom lip between words. "What are you going to do?"

The dark-haired woman shrugged. "There's not a lot I _can _do. Like you said, Elyan's a wildcard; all I can do is wait and see what he does. Besides, he made the decision last night."

"Who will you put up if he does take Percival down?" Merlin chipped in, sitting quite contentedly beside Arthur, with whom he was currently having a foot war.

Morgana shrugged, a sad smile on her face. The truth was, if either Percival _or _Gwaine were taken down, she would be forced to nominate one of her allies. With the power of Veto, Elyan was immune from eviction, as was anyone else he took down. It would be a hard decision, but she was fairly sure what she would do. The ideal would be if Gwaine was taken down, because then she would _ensure _that Percival left and not any of her allies. Still, that _wasn't _her decision; there was nothing more she could do now.

"Ow!" Merlin exclaimed, a wide grin still on his face as he reacted to a surprisingly sharp kick from Arthur.

Arthur smirked, until Merlin kicked him back with equal vigour. "Hey!"

"Children, children!" Morgana chastised, a small smile on her face. "Please, calm down!"

Morgause rolled her eyes at their antics, but they merely continued their 'foot wrestling', as they had dubbed it so fondly.

* * *

><p>It now feels appropriate that we should skip forward to that afternoon; when Elyan finally got the chance to use the power of Veto. Morgana called all of the houseguests into the living room, where they sat on the parallel couches, apart from the two nominees who sat in the blood red armchairs, as per usual. Elyan had submitted his decision to the producers on the previous night, there was no changing it now<p>

"Good afternoon, contestants!" The blonde presenter's image appeared on the TV screen. "It's time for Elyan to decide what to do with the power of Veto!"

Elyan stood up at the head of the couches, facing the television screen with a neutral expression on his face.

"Hello Elyan!" The woman on the screen tried desperately to extract a reaction from the stoic young man, he merely nodded in reply. "Congratulations on your win!"

"Thank you." He managed at a struggle, but the presenter continued to beam at him with that stupid, dazed expression.

"Are you ready to reveal your decision?"

He nodded silently; lips pressed tightly shut and averted his gaze to the nominees. Suddenly, a smirk played on his lips.

"I'm using the power of Veto to save Gwaine."

The only person who _didn't _seem surprised was Gwaine himself, who playfully high-fived his friend. Percival, however, was obviously furious. His large, piggish eyes bulged as his face flushed red with anger. His clenched fists were shaking in the armchair; things definitely weren't going well for him. Morgana, however was delighted.

"Morgana," The woman jumped up happily, as Elyan sat beside his saved comrade, at the sound of her name being called. "You may now choose a replacement nominee."

Her grin fell at the prospect as she turned to face the rest of the contestants. She smiled weakly.

"Arthur, as the only strong contestant left that isn't immune to elimination, I'm nominating you." She paused to lick her chapped lips. "But, I promise you, you will not go home."

Merlin could feel the blond shaking beside him as he stood up and took Gwaine's former seat beside Percival. He smiled sympathetically to his friend. Thinking about it, it wasn't that surprising a decision, she didn't have the heart to do it to the rest of her allies. Besides, she was right, Percival would surely be going home this week, surely.

"I, therefore, declare this Veto ceremony to be over." The presenter announced before finally disappearing.

* * *

><p>Percival stormed off, but not before very nearly punching Elyan. Arthur had to restrain him before the great hunk of a man escaped to the garden. The blond sighed as his former ally left. There wasn't much time to relax though.<p>

"Would Merlin and Arthur please come to the diary room."

Everyone, apart from Percival of course, looked at one another in surprise. Never, in the history of the show, had two contestants been called in together. What made Merlin and Arthur so different? Sure, they were good friends now, but there had been 'good friends' in other series too. This new development made many of the houseguests suspicious, but not for an extended period. You see, with the competition going at a constantly fast pace, they forgot about these little things very quickly and, thus, never put two and two together until it was shoved in their faces.

Surprised most of all were Merlin and Arthur, who froze on the spot beside one another before exchanging puzzled looks. But there wasn't much they could do and, soon enough, they walked into the diary room together. Then came the first problem.

"Hello Merlin, Arthur." The voice called as they both stared at the chair. The camera wouldn't catch both of them if one of them stood beside the chair, while the other sat in the chair. To make matters worse, there was no way that both of them could fit on the chair side by side. The dilemma took them by surprise and all they could do was look helplessly into the camera.

"Arthur, sit down." The producer said sternly, the blond obeyed while Merlin continued to stand awkwardly.

"Merlin, sit on his lap."

Now _that_ took Merlin by surprise, he flushed and spluttered out a refusal. Arthur, though a little flustered himself, rolled his eyes and told Merlin that it wasn't a 'big deal'.

"Of course it's a 'big deal'!" The dark-haired man argued. "My Mum's going to see this!"

Arthur stiffened where he sat at the thought of his father seeing him with another man on his lap on TV. He'd be teased to no end by his friends.

"Look," The sound of the producer's sharp tone surprised both of them. "We'll just use the footage as a voice over; no one has to see your faces."

Merlin visibly calmed down, despite the fact that he still wasn't totally comfortable with the situation. "O-okay, then."

Arthur felt himself flush as the dark-haired man slowly and awkwardly lowered himself onto the bond's lap. They both fidgeted a little, trying to get comfortable before becoming still and waiting for the questions.

"Okay, now that that's over," The producer sighed. "We have a few questions about nominations and then some more questions from the fans for you as a couple."

Both men flushed at that statement, they knew, or at least, they thought they knew, not to read into the label of 'couple' too much. I mean, it didn't have to imply anything _romantic_, right?

"Firstly, how are you both feeling about Arthur's nomination?"

The way he said it didn't aid the situation in the slightest, Merlin felt himself blush again, but started to relax significantly in Arthur's lap.

"I-I think you should answer that first." The dark-haired man stuttered.

"Well," Arthur began, peeking at the camera over Merlin's shoulder. "I'm feeling okay about it. I don't think I'll be going home, but I still worry."

Merlin shuddered, as Arthur's breath lightly brushed on the right side of his neck. He hoped desperately that the blond didn't notice. The whole chair situation was not helping his nerves at all.

"And you, Merlin?"

He shrugged, trying to halt his shaking hands as they sat in his lap. "I-I agree. I don't think he's going home."

"Why not?"

"Because everyone wants Percival to leave; there aren't enough people who would vote for Arthur to leave in the house. It's just not possible."

Arthur felt himself being drawn closer to the younger man on his lap, enticed ever so slightly by his tempting body heat and the boy's comforting words. Merlin seemed to be feeling it too, as he finally relaxed and leaned backwards on the blond's chest, so Arthur could place his chin on the dark-haired man's shoulder. It was strange how quickly they became comfortable with one another, unnerving almost.

"Okay," The producer sounded far too happy though. "And why, do you think, Elyan chose to take down Gwaine and not Percival?"

Merlin shrugged, jostling Arthur's chin as he did. "I'm not really sure."

"I know why," Arthur cut in. "They just always got on better; besides, they both know how selfish Percival is. My guess is that he pissed them off one too many times."

"An interesting theory." The producer noted. "Okay, time for the fan questions. Firstly, one fan would like to know why you two think you're so close."

Merlin flushed and was suddenly glad that Arthur couldn't see his face.

He felt the blond shrug behind him. "We just click. He's not afraid to call out on me when I'm being an idiot and I freely tease him whenever I want."

Merlin hit Arthur's leg with his fist. "Prat." He hissed as the blond grimaced and then chuckled softly.

The producer promptly cleared his throat, as if to remind the pair that he was still there, despite the fact that they couldn't see him. "I have just one more question, then you can go."

"Do the new developments that have occurred in the last couple of days make you two allies?"

Merlin shuffled slightly so that he could see Arthur's face. Eyes locked, he shrugged. "I suppose."

The blond took in a shaky breath, how could such simple eye contact be so intense? But, before anything could come of it, the man behind the camera cleared his throat loudly once again and told them that they could both leave.

* * *

><p>They spent the rest of the evening trailing around with Morgana and the rest of the gang. It wasn't until they were having dinner that they got some more alone time together.<p>

"What are you making?" Merlin asked, while sitting at the kitchen counter as Arthur stirred whatever he had in his saucepan.

The blond turned to grin cheekily at him. "Mac 'n' cheese."

"Ooh," Merlin smirked. "Can I have some?"

Arthur shrugged. "If you want."

They shared dinner, chatting about any random subjects that came up, but not what had happened in the diary room, _never _what had happened in the diary room. Things were still comfortable enough though, they were getting to know one another better rapidly.

"What's your favourite colour?" Merlin asked offhandedly.

Arthur mused over the question for a second. "Red. How about you?"

"Blue, I think."

"Do you have any pets?"

Merlin shook his head. "Why do you ask?"

Arthur shrugged. "Just wondered. I always wanted a dog when I was younger."

"What sort of dog?"

"Any sort. In fact, I think I would have taken _any _type of pet."

The dark-haired man grinned in response. "Me too."

It was so easy for them to find things in common, but it wasn't the nature of their conversation that had triggered that. It was what had happened during the luxury competition. It was the first time that either of them had met anyone with a past even remotely similar to their own. It was comforting to just be together, almost, because they understood each other completely. Or so they thought at the time.

And when everyone had gone to bed, they were still curled up on the sofa together, watching TV.

* * *

><p>Sleeping that night, however, still wasn't easy for Arthur. Being with Merlin calmed his nerves significantly, but he couldn't stay with the man <em>all<em> night, could he? Well, perhaps he _could _have, but he'd never, ever build up the guts to ask the man directly. No, this was something he had to suffer alone.

Merlin slept strikingly well that night, at least, in contrast to Arthur. After all, he had nothing to worry about and he certainly wasn't worrying about Arthur. Tomorrow, if all went well, Percival would finally be leaving.

* * *

><p>Now, I'm not going to bore you with the details, because you've been patient enough. The truth is, Percival <em>was <em>evicted the next day, the outcome would never have been any different. He just had too many enemies in the house, so much so that even his clique-mates voted against him in the end, an unheard of event in the history of the show. Needless to say, he left with no class and spat at all the contestants as he closed the door behind him. But, despite his rudeness, everyone was relieved to see him go.

* * *

><p>"Well, now that we've nearly finished the interview," The presenter said, sitting on the couch outside the house. "We'd like to finish off by talking to you about a couple of specific houseguests."<p>

Percival nodded, an unfamiliar grin on his face. "Go ahead."

"While you were in the house, what did you make of Merlin and Arthur specifically?"

"Well," The man began, leaning back in his seat. "If you ask me, there was something fishy about them. One minute they hated each other's guts and the next they were best friends."

The blonde opposite him smiled. "It's interesting to hear you say that, because we've got some footage from just yesterday to show you."

Percival nodded once again as the screen behind him played the confession from the previous day. Needless to say, he was shocked.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! All done! Hope you guys enjoy it and I can promise you right now, 'cause I've got it all planned out, that the kiss will <strong>_**definitely **_**be in the next chapter, so look forward to that!**

** Also, has anyone got tumblr? I need to follow more Merlin blogs. You can also go to my blog for updates on how new chapters are coming along~! Oh and feel free to look at the other two Merthur fics I've got currently on the go and one drabble-y Johnlock fic I have, which is currently being updated daily.**

** My last request is for some question suggestions. Merlin and Arthur will be venturing into the diary room together for a while, so some help would be lovely! If you were watching the show and could ask them a question, what would you ask?**

** See you all soon~!**


	8. Days Sixteen to Eighteen

**Thank you again, 'E'. I think you must be some sort of muse for me or something. I'd love to talk to you a little more, for some reason you just inspire me.**

**It's probably shallow that it took your review to get me writing again; I guess I just got distracted by expectation and the sheer busyness of my life at the moment. Just know that I will never give up on this fic; ever. And I'm blown away by the loyalty of **_**all**_** my readers. I know I keep taking long breaks, but I do intend to finish this fic and finish it well. These characters won't stay out of my head that easily.**

**Christmas gave me enough time to finish off this chapter and I promise I'll try and start the next before school restarts, but I can only do my best guys. Which is why I try and make the chapters as long as possible when I do update!**

**My sincerest thanks to all of you who keep nagging me; mission complete… for now.**

* * *

><p>It was a new week, a new day and, with it, time to pick a new Head of Household. After getting a good night's sleep for the first time in what felt like weeks, the contestants gathered in the garden to start the live challenge.<p>

"Houseguests! It's time for our third HOH competition!" The presenter's image flashed on the outside screen, as eager and perky as ever. "As current HOH, Morgana, you cannot participate."

Morgana nodded from the sidelines, gazing hopefully at her allies with a weak smile.

"This competition is called 'Buzzworthy' and the concept is extremely simple."

* * *

><p>Merlin looked out onto the garden from where he stood beside Arthur. Around the garden, large plastic bugs had been placed and paper flowers sprung up from nearly every patch of vegetation. Even on the windows, they'd stuck pictures of ladybirds, bees and butterflies in an attempt to keep the transformation consistent. In the centre of the garden, surrounding a dog-size model of a bee, was a large yellow square-shape. It was huge; around five metres in length and equally as wide. Similar to honeycomb, in was split into tiny segments shaped like hexagons around the width of one's hand.<p>

In front of the honeycomb was a platform for the competitors to stand on one at a time, with a see-saw like object that could be moved from side to side and up and down by the handles glued to it at the upper end. The concept, in itself, seemed fairly obvious at the time, given that they were all holding coloured balls with their names on.

"One at a time," The presenter continued nonetheless. "Each of the houseguests will step forward and shoot a single ball into the honeycomb target. Depending on where the ball lands, they will be awarded a certain number of points, the amount of which can be seen by the audience, labelled on each section. In general, the closer the ball is to the centre of the honeycomb; the more points you get. For example, the outer rings are worth one to seven points, but the centre itself is worth ten. The houseguest with the highest score when everyone has had a go is the new HOH."

* * *

><p>'<em>Perfect.<em>' Arthur thought with a smirk, his aim had always been pretty good thanks to his past in athletics. What's more, with Percival gone, his chances of winning and not just placing second were significantly higher, especially compared to the remaining competitors.

Merlin, however, wasn't feeling so confident. He'd never been that athletic in school and certainly didn't have a sense of aim that could rival people like Elyan or Lancelot. Still, now that Arthur had joined him as an ally, for now, he felt much more comfortable about his place in the competition. This challenge was _made _for someone like Arthur. He smiled to the blond who stood beside him.

"Good luck." He whispered.

The blond nodded a semi-smug, semi-affectionate grin on his face. "You too."

It was strange, because just a few days ago, Arthur would have never even dreamed of saying something like that to anyone. It was almost scary, how quickly things had changed. He smiled to himself; still, it felt like things had changed for the better. Merlin was easy to be around and surprisingly witty at times. Everything seemed to fit together quite easily.

"Does everyone understand?"

The houseguests nodded approvingly to the presenter via the screen in the garden with them.

"Good," The blonde lady smiled, showing her pearly white teeth, probably the finished work of a high-end dentist somewhere. "Then, Gwen, you're up first. Take your best shot!"

Gwen smiled weakly, eying the see-saw contraption with distrust. She took a visibly deep breath in order to try and compose herself. Taking the device's handlebars, she placed her ball on the groove at her end of the long red plank. Clutching both of the handle bars tighter now, she took another deep breath before tipping the see-saw downwards, so the ball ran down it and then suddenly flicked the plank up when the ball reached the end. It flew into the air and all of the contestants followed its path in the sky.

It bounced off somewhere in the centre and then landed further out.

"Gwen has a score of four." The presenter announced. "Well done. Gwaine, four is the score to beat, take your go whenever you're ready."

Gwaine looked far more confident than Gwen had when he stepped up. He placed down his ball on the see-saw and took his go quickly, with a surprising amount of concentration for the easily-distracted man. Perhaps Arthur had underestimated him. He was, after all, a part of the Athlete clique.

"And Gwaine beats it with a six!" The bearded man looked happy, but not surprised at this announcement. "Gwaine is now in the lead with six points, Freya, you're next."

The girl, who seemed to have pretty much disappeared in the last week, stepped forward quietly and calmly. She smiled fondly to her clique-mates before placing her ball down on the plank. The ball flew up high in the air and landed almost immediately.

"Five! Unfortunately, that won't cut it Freya," The blonde on the screen smiled with faux sympathy. It seemed that not even Freya's cool attitude could make up for a lack of technique. "Gwaine is still in the lead with six points, will Morgause be able to beat that?"

The confident blonde woman stepped up, a smug smirk on her face as she placed her ball in the groove and took her go. Regrettably, she waited far too long to flick up the plank and the ball covered too far a distance.

"One point, sorry Morgause." The blonde looked shocked at her score, but soon retreated to the losers' bench. There was no time for dilly-dallying. "So, Gwaine is still leading the competition with six points, Vivian, take your best shot."

The perky blonde girl was already skipping up to the see-saw contraption. She smirked seductively at the rest of the contestants before taking her go. However, she, quite unlike Morgause, flicked up the plank far too early, so the ball never even reached the honeycomb target. To be honest, no one was particularly surprised. Vivian, for all her vanity and pop culture knowledge, wasn't exactly athletic and certainly didn't have the patience, not the determination, to do well in a challenge such as this.

"Vivian fails to score," The presenter had a sickening smirk plastered on her face. To be perfectly honest, Vivian looked like a better version of the blonde bombshell currently on screen. No doubt, there was probably some jealousy there. "Which means that Gwaine, currently, may very well be the new HOH. Will Elyan change that?"

Cool and collected, Elyan stepped up, glaring down the honeycomb target in some sort of mental battle before placing down his ball and slowly tipping the see-saw.

"Close, but five isn't going to do it." Elyan looked unchanged at the presenter's announcement. Having Gwaine as HOH was almost the same as having HOH himself. Saving the man from eviction had bonded the two closer together than ever; they were virtually inseparable.

"Lancelot, it's your turn to try and beat Gwaine's score of six."

The blond stepped up with a large smile on his face, a bad habit that he used to cover up nerves. Still, his discomfort was obvious thanks to his hands, which shook uncontrollably as he placed his ball down on the plank. He took a deep breath, but the nerves were too much.

"Three! Unfortunately, that won't get you HOH." Lancelot shrugged, slightly disappointed, and silently joined the rest of the 'losers'. "Only Merlin and Arthur are left now to beat Gwaine's score of six. Merlin; you're up next."

* * *

><p>Merlin took a deep breath, flashed one last nervous grin at the blond beside him and stepped up, hands wrapped tightly around his blue ball. Placing the plastic sphere in the groove, the dark-haired man grabbed both handle-bars firmly and let the ball roll down slowly. It flew up into the air before it reached the bottom and, hitting one of the outer rings, fell somewhere closer to the centre. He held his breath.<p>

"Six! Merlin has equalled Gwaine's score!" Merlin felt a large grin blossom on his face. "Will Arthur be able to beat both of them to HOH or do we have a tie on our hands?"

He sent Arthur a challenging smirk, which only seemed to encourage the blond's competitive streak. Merlin - despite the fact that he was almost certain that Arthur would, at the very least, equal his score - couldn't help feeling happy that he'd somewhat proved himself to the blond. He was a worthy ally, a real competitor.

Arthur stepped up to the see-saw, still smirking confidently, and grabbed the handle bars. He didn't wait, didn't take a few seconds to concentrate. Arthur didn't need to take a deep breath to calm his nerves; he knew, as every good athlete does, that nerves are natural. Nerves, if anything, push you to do things greater than you would have otherwise. He just lifted the plank and then, when the ball was around three quarters of the way down, quickly pushed downwards. As the ball flew into the air, he felt his heart stop.

"Seven! Arthur is the new HOH!"

Pumping the air with his fist, the contestants gathered round him, but he had no idea which ones they were, he was far too busy grinning from ear to ear. High-fiving Merlin, who gave him a fond squeeze on the shoulder he let the feeling of relief wash over him as he was embraced by Vivian first and then Guinevere.

'_Finally_,' He thought. '_Finally, I've done it!_'

* * *

><p>Eventually, after much hugging and compliments, they all bundled back into the house. Morgana had a cup of tea waiting for Arthur when he walked in; a peace treaty of sorts, perhaps. He took the cup, with a small smile of thanks. Nothing was said for, before either of them had the chance, Arthur was whisked away by Vivian into another hug. She certainly seemed to be getting her fill.<p>

Gwen smiled weakly to Merlin, who tried to smile back sympathetically. Really, Gwen shouldn't be so distracted with such silly feelings when there was a competition going on. He turned his back on her and went to rescue Arthur from the ridiculously clingy Vivian.

"Let him breathe, Vivian." The dark-haired man said with a small laugh, placing a comforting hand on Arthur's shoulder that allowed him to pull the man from the blonde's grasp. Arthur smiled thankfully to him.

Vivian pouted, maintaining a firm grip on the man's wrist. "Can't you see you're interrupting something, _Merlin_?"

"No, it's fine." Arthur cut in before Merlin could retort, much to Vivian's displeasure. "Hey, well done back there."

Merlin laughed again as Vivian skulked off. "Thanks, you too; you must be thrilled."

The blond grinned. "Damn right."

"God knows you waited long enough." Lancelot chipped in good-naturedly.

Arthur shrugged with a small smirk. "It was going to happen sooner or later."

Merlin hit him playfully at his arrogance; Arthur just grinned back at him. But, when he opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted.

"Would Guinevere please come to the diary room."

Gwen frowned. "That's strange."

"Yeah," Morgana said, with a similar frown on her face. "Don't they usually call the HOH first?"

Arthur shrugged again. "I'm not that fussed, I've been in that room enough for a lifetime."

"The producer can be a bit of a dick sometimes." Merlin mused.

"Really?" Lancelot cut in. "He's always nice to me."

"Must just be us then…" Arthur commented. "Anyway, I'm going to change; I'll see you guys later."

* * *

><p>"Who wants to see my HOH room?"<p>

Around half an hour later, after Gwen had come out of the diary room holding the key to Arthur's new bedroom, the blond was shouting for the entire house to gather. He grinned, at Merlin, who was still drinking his tea in the kitchen, before making his way up the stairs. Soon enough, a large group of the contestants were circled around the door to the HOH room, as Arthur put the key in the lock.

When the door was finally open, they all trailed in to inspect the decor and they were certainly not disappointed. Arthur grimaced at the sight of a few rather embarrassing old school pictures, but allowed the rest of the houseguests to 'ooh' and 'ah' at the seemingly ancient photos of him and his family.

"Look at this one!" Merlin exclaimed, pointing at his first ever school photo. "Your hair is all fluffy!"

Arthur smiled and laughed, coming to standing beside him as the other houseguests were distracted by the numerous other photos littered around the room.

"What do you mean 'fluffy'?"

The dark-haired man shrugged, still grinning. "It makes me just want to ruffle your hair!"

"Leave the hair alone!" Arthur covered his blond hair with his hands with mock protectiveness. "It doesn't like being touched."

Merlin chuckled. "Fine, fine. I'll attempt to resist my urges!"

"I-I like this one best." Merlin and Arthur's conversation was interrupted by Gwen, pointing to a picture of Arthur as a young man of around sixteen. The small smirk on her face surprised the pair, but unnerved them more than anything. She'd developed an almost competitive streak with Merlin ever since he'd developed a close friendship with Arthur. Her advances were becoming less and less subtle in nature and neither Merlin, nor Arthur, was entirely comfortable with her new-found confidence.

Arthur smiled weakly in response to her obvious hints of attraction. "Okay."

Nope, Gwen's advances hadn't let up at all, despite the fact that, to Merlin's delight, Arthur had been brushing her off more and more. She didn't seem to be taking the hint though; disillusioned by her own idealistic fantasies. Still, Merlin lived in hope that, one day, she might finally see Arthur's true personality. Yes, he was friends with the man now, but there were still, and there always would be, aspects of his personality that he disliked. Unfortunately, Gwen only seemed to see what she wanted to see.

After cooing over Arthur's baby pictures for a little longer, they gathered around him on the couches to listen to the letter addressed to him.

The blond felt a lump form in his throat when he saw the name signed at the bottom. "It's from Uther, my father."

Merlin couldn't help but feel as if he recognised that name, but honestly could not remember where from. He brushed off the hunch to listen to the blond, who read the letter slowly, as if trying to hold back. Truth be told, Arthur seemed reluctant to show any hint of emotion for it was, as he often told himself, the ultimate sign of weakness. Still, right now, he was more worried about what his father would say rather than his reaction to it. Uther hadn't been keen on the idea of him coming into the house from the get go, he doubted that that would have changed in the last two weeks.

"Dear Arthur, if you receive this letter then you will have done something right; congratulations, you're HOH. I know I refused to give you my blessing when you initially decided to apply for this affair, but, watching you now, I think I'm beginning to understand why you decided to participate. I just want you to know that, despite what you may think, I'm proud of you."

Arthur stopped in his tracks and, for just a moment, Merlin wondered if his strong mask would finally crack. Honestly, he wouldn't have been surprised if the man had broken down crying there and then. But he didn't. He collected himself, sniffed a few times and continued.

"From what I have seen, you are making some excellent friends in the house, but I beg you to remember your true purpose in this competition. There will be plenty of time to form bonds with these people later, just not at the present moment. You're here to compete, remember that. Send my regards to Morgana, how wonderful that you two take power consecutively. I wish you all the best. Uther."

Arthur took a deep breath and put down the letter. He certainly hadn't expected anything of that sort; his father had never been quite so... _supportive_. Suddenly, he felt the cooling feeling of relief wash over him and then the comforting warmth of joy. His father was proud of him!

"That's such a sweet letter~!" Gwen cooed, but she was quickly ignored.

Morgana smirked. "I never knew he was so emotionally capable."

Arthur grinned. "Me neither."

Slowly the houseguests began to file out, understanding wordlessly that the blond would want some time alone to take in everything that had happened. Quite naturally, Merlin followed suit, trailing just behind Freya and Gwen.

"Merlin?"

Instinctively, the dark-haired man turned around at the sound of his name.

"Yes?"

Arthur smiling weakly, eyes flicking consciously to the other houseguests, who continued to leave the room, albeit slowly now. When the majority of them were gone, excepting Gwen, Freya and Lancelot; he seemed to relax more and continued.

"Stay?"

Merlin was immediately hit by the vulnerability of the request. His throat went dry. His eyes flicked back to Gwen who, now frozen on the spot, had an incomprehensible look on her face.

The dark haired man nodded; he couldn't exactly say no, even if he had wanted to. Arthur's smile brightened at his acceptance of the request, before gesturing for him to re-enter the room. Merlin did so, sitting on the couch once again, rather than joining Arthur on the bed. The blond, on the other hand, as politely as one could, closed on door on Guinevere, who continued to stand frozen with that unreadable expression on her face on the landing outside.

* * *

><p>"Did that," The dark-haired woman said breathily. "Really just happen?"<p>

Freya kept her mouth shut; in her opinion there was no real reason for confirmation. If only Gwen had been paying some attention these last few weeks, she'd have seen it coming. Well… she had been paying _some_ attention, just to the wrong things. Ogling Arthur's chest for a week certainly wouldn't have told her anything about Merlin and Arthur's developing relationship, but picking up on their early-morning meetings definitely would have. Unfortunately, not everyone was quite as observant as Freya.

She just hoped that Merlin was doing this for the right reasons; Arthur was dangerous, she knew it.

* * *

><p>"So," The dark-haired man began, feeling quite awkward as he shuffled in his seat. "You must be feeling pretty happy right now."<p>

The blond grinned. "You bet. Everything's finally coming together." He let himself fall back on his bed with a dreamy sigh.

Merlin chuckled at the man's childish behaviour. "This is a real upgrade from the bathroom-bedroom, eh?"

"Indeed. I can't remember the last time I slept in a bed."

"I'd be more excited about the bath myself."

The blond sat up quickly, an unfamiliar glint in his eyes. "You're a bath-man then, Merlin?"

The dark-haired man frowned. "Yes. What, are you more of a shower-man then?"

Arthur chuckled and lay down again. "I guess you could call it that. Anyway, you're free to use the bath whenever you want."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"I fucking love you."

The blond laughed again. "Whatever, just keep it in your pants, Merlin."

"I'll try."

There was a pregnant pause.

"So," Merlin elongated the singular vowel sound as he desperately struggled to find a way to approach the subject he so wished to talk about. "What's up with you and Morgana?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come _on._" The dark-haired man rolled his eyes. "It's obvious that there's some sort of link there."

Arthur smiled weakly, reaching for a beer from the mini-fridge by the bed. "I'm surprised you bothered to bring it up."

"The whole letter thing sort of sealed the deal."

"You want one?"

"Huh?"

The blond gestured towards the still open fridge and Merlin finally clicked.

"Oh, sure."

Arthur threw him a beer and bottle opener, both which he very nearly dropped. But the blond didn't seem to notice, at least, he hoped not.

"So, Morgana and you…" Merlin nudged, but it had sounded far more subtle in his head.

"Morgana and I…" Arthur mused, coming to sit beside his friend on the couch. He winced as he realised that he was genuinely considering telling Merlin the truth. This could just be his way of getting in Arthur's good books, a way of eventually getting what _he _wanted. But the remaining suspicion scared him more than the prospect of blurting out the truth ever did. Merlin was sincere, he was sure of it.

Arthur wasn't a stranger to schmoozing; he was, in fact, what you might call an expert on the matter. When you're born into a family with that much money and power, everyone wants _something _from you. But Merlin… Merlin didn't seem to have any ulterior motives, at least, not here. If he'd been asking after nominations or targets, perhaps Arthur would have been less ready to tell him the truth, but he wasn't. Really, there was not much Merlin could achieve by being indulged in this information. If anything, it would only strengthen the bond between them and, as of that moment, Arthur could think of little else.

"We're siblings." The blond blurted out quickly and it took a moment for understanding to register on Merlin's face. "But only technically."

"I-I don't understand."

Arthur sighed. "Her father was my father's business partner and, what's more, his oldest friend. Both of her parents were killed in some freak car accident, she wasn't with them at the time. Father couldn't bear to see her be put into care; after all, her parents had been disowned by all their living relatives because of their 'scandalous' relationship. So he adopted her."

"But?"

The blond turned to look at Merlin in wonder. "What makes you think there's a 'but'?"

The dark-haired man blushed. "I-It's just… you guys don't seem all that close."

"No, you're right." Arthur sighed. "There's a 'but', a big 'but'."

Merlin snickered.

The blond smirked and hit his friend playfully. "You're so childish, be quiet. I'm trying to be deep."

"Sorry, sorry." He grinned. "Go on."

"Well…" Arthur, quite suddenly, felt the lump in his throat grow. "We were close when we were younger; inseparable really. Not that anything was perfect, I mean, we were brother and sister, so we still fought, but we always made up. She was smarter than me, but I was more athletic than her, more popular too, so we balanced each other out, y'know?"

The blond sighed again. "We even shared the same ambition; we both wanted to be lawyers, like our parents. We both took history degrees at university and enrolled in the same law schools. She was at the top of our class and then…" He trailed off.

"Then?" Merlin encouraged him softly, subconsciously edging closer on the couch.

"Then she dropped out."

"What? Why?"

Arthur shrugged. "Honestly, I still don't know. She just took off with a load of father's money and travelled the world for a year or so."

"Woah."

"I know."

"What did your father do?"

The blond frowned and lay back in his chair at the memory alone. He took another swig of beer to soften the blow.

"He blew up, demanded she return and, when she refused, blamed it on me for not keeping an eye on her."

"But it wasn't your fault!" Merlin protested.

"According to my father, it was."

"But what about when she came back? I mean, I assume she _did_ come back."

"She shed a few tears - put on a good show, I'll tell you that - and he welcomed her with open arms."

Merlin sat open-eyed by his friend, trying to take in everything that he'd just been told. "Wow."

"I know." Arthur took another sip of his near-empty beer.

"And did she go back?"

"Go back where?"

"To law school?"

"No~" The blond chuckled darkly with a small shake of head. "She's been living off 'Daddy's' money ever since."

"So, why's she here?" Merlin asked, curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if she's perfectly happy living off 'Daddy's money', as you put it, why is she here; trying to win a competition in which the ultimate prize is money?"

Arthur shrugged. "Maybe for the same reason as me."

"And what might that be?"

"_Will Merlin and Arthur please come to the diary room._"

* * *

><p>Gwen frowned. '<em>Not again.<em>'

"What do you reckon that was?" Morgana asked, as she buttered her toast.

The brown-haired girl shrugged. "Maybe they were doing something they shouldn't be."

Morgana smirked. "Naughty. But something tells me not. Arthur's the most heterosexual man I know."

"Really?"

She nodded, why would Gwen even need comforting about this? "If Arthur's doing the dirty with Merlin, I will burn my favourite dress."

"The black Armani one?"

Morgana nodded again. She certainly never expected such a promise to be brought up again.

* * *

><p>Once again, upon making their way to the diary room, our unlikely couple were faced with an uncomfortable, and yet totally familiar, dilemma. But, this time; knowing there was no alternative, they performed the solution without fussing.<p>

"Merlin, Arthur," The producer's voice clearly revealed the smirk on his face. "Are you both comfortable?"

Merlin did not go without detecting the small snicker added to that question and he glared at the camera from where he sat on Arthur's lap.

"I'm quite alright, thank you."

"Arthur?" The producer prompted.

Currently incapable of forming complete sentences, the blond merely nodded, suddenly very glad that Merlin could not see him.

"Obviously we want to discuss the competition, but first we have some more fan questions for you, as a couple."

Merlin sighed; he thought that it would be a onetime thing. But that, from where he sat, seemed rather unlikely now.

"Oo~kay, first question." The voice paused momentarily. "Are you surprised by how much you have in common?"

At first, the question hit like a brick wall. Suddenly, both men started to realise just how much they'd forgotten. There were people, thousands of people, maybe even millions, who'd seen those private, those oh so intimate, conversations between the two of them. When they were together, it was so easy to forget the cameras completely. Both of them felt quite dazed for a second or two before Arthur finally collected himself enough to answer.

"I think that we, as people, are completely irrelevant. I'm always surprised when I find that I have something in common with a person."

"But don't you think you two have a little _more _than is normal?" The man behind the camera, clearly unsatisfied with his semi- sarcastic answer, prompted.

"I suppose," Merlin cut in. "We share some experiences that are not common to the average person."

"Neither of us expected to find anything like… _this _in the house." Arthur added.

"And just what is 'this'?" The producer asked plainly.

Merlin blushed and looked down.

"Y'know what?" Arthur began, suddenly feeling quite bold (but that was probably just the beer). "Honestly, as of right now, I'm not entirely sure."

A silence ensued as both men took in that statement. Unfortunately, neither of them could currently truly appreciate just how bang-on that was.

"Okay, second question," The producer began abruptly. "Boxers or briefs?"

Merlin blushed again. What was it with these fans and personal questions? And why did these questions have to be asked when he was _with _Arthur? If he'd been on his own he surely would have been able to come up with some witty reply.

"Both." At least Arthur seemed perfectly comfortable, from Merlin's point of view anyway.

"And you, Merlin?"

He felt his blush deepen as he mumbled his answer.

"I'm sorry, Merlin, but you're going to have to speak up."

"I wear briefs, okay?" He shouted back impatiently.

Arthur laughed, jiggling the man on his lap. Merlin slapped his leg playfully.

"Shut up!"

"Okay~" The producer began after the couple had died down. "Our final fan question is: do you believe in destiny?"

Both men suddenly went quiet. It was a strikingly deep question in comparison to many of the others they'd been asked and, thus, totally unexpected. What sort of people watched this show?

"Well," Arthur began with a deep breath; preparing himself for his inevitable answer. "I can't speak for Merlin, but, in my opinion, 'destiny' is a myth made up by desperate screenwriters and middle-aged women. I don't believe in any sort of higher power or plan; I believe in life."

There was a brief pause as the blond's response sunk in before the producer said "And you, Merlin?"

The dark-haired man took a deep breath, just as his friend had. "I don't think I've quite made my mind up yet. To a certain extent, I agree with Arthur; it seems too good to be true. Besides, I think ninety-nine percent of people just settle for whatever seems best at the time. Destiny has never been a theory I've been able to apply to my own life, but I think I may have seen it in the lives of others."

"Interesting." The producer mused and, for once, it didn't seem entirely insincere. "Okay, time for some of our questions now. Merlin, you can leave."

The man on Arthur's lap nodded and jumped down. He gave his blond friend a reassuring smile before exiting the room and making his way into the main part of the house.

* * *

><p>Gwen was sitting on his bed, waiting for him when he walked in. Usually, that wouldn't be so ominous, usually all that implied was that some insignificant exchange had been made between herself and Arthur and that she wanted to talk about it. But the look on her face now, the glower she directed at him, told him, immediately, that nothing so light-hearted was on her mind.<p>

"Merlin." She said his name as if it were a statement. It was surprisingly cold for the friendly woman.

He forced a smile. "Hey, Gwen. How's it going?"

"I should be asking you that. Since when were you and Arthur so chummy?" Her question, paired with a scathing glare on her end, caused Merlin's smile to fall into a frown.

He shrugged, hanging onto the door frame awkwardly, as if she'd bite if he got too close. "We've just been hanging out the last few days. I thought it was obvious."

"_Everyone _knew you were 'hanging out', but _that_," her hand jolted jerkily to point at the ceiling. "Was not just 'hanging out'."

"Yeah it was." Merlin scowled; his patience waning surprisingly quickly. "Look, I don't know why you're being so snappy with me, Gwen; I'm your friend. I thought you'd be happy that I was making powerful allies for us. Besides, I was just trying to help you."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

He shrugged. "If Arthur and I are friends, I can get in a good word for you."

Her facial expression transformed upon the voicing of that statement. Her brown eyes widened and her glare softened as everything seemed to click in her head. Merlin forced a smile; he'd never been that natural a liar, but he had to learn if he wanted to stand a chance of winning this competition.

"Oh, Merlin," She cooed, standing and pulling him into an awkward hug. "I'm so sorry, I thought- Oh, I don't know what I thought, but _thank you_."

The dark-haired man laughed unnaturally before pulling out of the uncomfortable embrace. "I was just trying to be subtle. I'm sorry if I worried you."

"No, no, not at all." She laughed. "You're just doing what you thought best. Anyway, at least I know now; I can try and help!"

His forced smile fell into something more natural, somehow he couldn't help thinking that any 'help' Gwen had in mind wouldn't aid the situation as she perhaps intended. But what could he say? He'd already dug his grave.

* * *

><p>Being HOH definitely had its perks, but it certainly wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. All Arthur wanted to do was go back up to his room but, after finally being released from the diary room; Vivian had managed to pounce on him. He couldn't bring himself to be rude to the girl; for fear that he might need to return to that alliance eventually. Besides, why waste so ready an ally? She was quite obviously enamoured with him; what purpose would he serve by breaking her heart? On the other hand, she was definitely trying on his last nerve as she dragged him out into the garden to see the sunset.<p>

Admittedly, once he got out there, it was quite extraordinary. The few clouds that were scattered across the sky seemed to almost cower from the glorious red colour that had exploded above them. It faded out and blended into blues and greens and oranges at various places, as the sun made its way down onto the horizon. Somehow, he managed to block out Vivian's yapping about how romantic it was and silently watched, in complete awe of the world around him. It was so easy to forget its true extent.

"Beautiful," A familiar voice said from behind him, managing to rise above Vivian's high-pitched one. "Isn't it?"

He nodded, not willing to drag his eyes away from the wonder just yet. He sensed the owner of the voice come to stand beside him, but he kept his eyes glued to the sky.

"I painted a sunset like this one once." The dark-haired figure continued, whilst Vivian (still standing on his other side) remained oblivious to the new and far more interesting houseguest. "It took forever, but it was worth it."

"Did it sell for much?"

The man beside him shook his head. "I had an offer of £10,000, but I just couldn't bring myself to sell it."

"Where is it now?" Arthur asked and, as he did, he turned to face the figure beside him. He was not surprised to see Merlin standing next to him, at least, that was what he told himself, but, at the time, it felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him as he laid eyes on the man. The end of his question sounded breathless, trailing off at the end from the mere sight of the dark-haired boy alongside him.

He briefly recalled once thinking that Merlin was not extraordinary in any sense, that he wasn't the sort of person he'd stop to look at in the street or something along those lines. But any such thoughts were disregarded from that moment onwards.

It was true that, on the surface, Merlin was nothing special. He wasn't particularly smart, or funny, or athletic. He was lanky, rather than tall; skinny, rather than slender and sickly white rather than fair. But, at that moment, Arthur didn't see any of those things. As the final light of the sun hit the side of his face like that; highlighting those protruding cheekbones and alabaster skin when he smiled like that; his eyes softening at the corners and his thin lips curving awkwardly, Arthur could not help but feel that he'd never been more wrong. There was something _entirely _special about this man. How had he not seen it back then? It was so apparent to him now; so very obvious. How could he have missed it before?

"It's hung up in my flat." Merlin continued softly, somehow oblivious to the effect he was having on the blond beside him. At least that gave the blond a chance to finally catch his breath again though. "I don't think I could ever give it away."

"I'd like to see it." Arthur blurted out, before he could stop himself.

The dark-haired man grinned. "Maybe you will."

"Hey, are you even listening?!" The shrill tones of Vivian's voice suddenly reached Arthur's ears. It was so easy to forget about her, everyone, the cameras, when he was with Merlin. So easy that it scared him.

"Yeah, we're listening, go on."

* * *

><p>"They're cute, aren't they?" Gwen said absent-mindedly, as she chopped the onion on the counter in front of her.<p>

"Who are?" The dark-haired woman behind her retorted quickly.

Gwen pointed with her knife to the couple outside, still completely ignorant of her presence. "Those two."

"Oh." Morgana went back to peeling her potatoes. "I guess."

"I wonder what Merlin's saying."

"Well, whatever it is, Arthur seems completely mesmerized by it."

"Hm…" Gwen mused. "I've been meaning to ask, Morgana, are you two close?"

Morgana shook her head. "No, I wouldn't say so. He never really forgave me, you see."

"And you think the competition will help?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, but that's where you come in."

Gwen frowned. "I don't understand."

Morgana grinned. "What I mean is that, by me helping you two get together, Arthur will hopefully come to think of me more fondly."

"Oh," She blushed. "I see."

The dark-haired woman chuckled at her friend's bashfulness, but her smile soon dropped to a frown. Her confidence in her plan was quickly vanishing. There was no way things could go ahead when Arthur was so utterly fascinated with Merlin, unless they could bring Merlin onside. Little did she know, things were far more complicated than she could ever have foreseen.

* * *

><p>The house soon sat down for dinner. It was the first time everyone had come together since the beginning of the competition, but it only served to bring the reality of that week into perspective. Arthur had the flexibility to play for whichever side he wished. His newly-found power and non-existent long-term loyalties meant that betrayal was likely, but no one quite knew who would be betrayed. It was all to play for and, thus, semi-ridiculous amounts of attention were paid to Arthur, despite the fact that he obviously only wanted to spend time with the dark-haired man beside him. Eventually, Morgana, Lancelot, Freya, Gwen and Morgause backed off and went to sit outsde in the garden. As long as Merlin was in Arthur's good books, they were too. However, this only caused the other half of the house to panic. Eventually, Vivian's lewd propositions and Gwaine and Elyan's constant attempts at sport-talk became just too overwhelming for the blond and, without doing much thinking, he invited Merlin up to his room.<p>

"Really? You're sure?" The dark-haired man asked incredulously, obviously surprised at his suggestion.

He nodded. "You said you wanted to use the bath, right?"

"I-I guess, but I thought we were just joking around." Merlin laughed awkwardly as he followed the man up the stairs.

"Look, if you'd rather not it's-"

"No, no." Merlin interrupted. "I'd love to use your bath; if you don't mind."

"Fine."

* * *

><p>"All seems to be going well then." Morgana mused with her friends outside as they watched the two men go up the stairs together through the large windows that revealed the landing on the first floor.<p>

"It seems so." Gwen replied, twisting her fingers around the blades of grass beneath them. "Hey, Morgana, I've been meaning to ask you something else."

"What?"

"What sort of girls does Arthur usually go for?"

Morgana's eyes widened. "That's a big question."

"I-if you don't wanna' answers it's fi-"

"No," The dark-haired woman insisted. "I'll answer it. Just let me think for a bit."

The truth was that the women her brother spent his time pursuing were not of a specific type. Besides, if there were a "type", it would not be one she would encourage Guinevere to conform too. After all, hadn't all those women been thrown away after Arthur had gotten what he wanted? Thinking about it now, Morgana doubted that a woman who could keep Arthur satiated long-term even existed. But she couldn't tell Gwen that.

"I suppose," She began slowly, trying her best not to make it obvious that she was just making it up as she went along. "He usually goes for girls who are fairly confident in themselves; he doesn't like a pushover. He likes a challenge, but he doesn't like girls that have been around the block. He wants someone he can show off, but who is entirely his, even if he's not entirely theirs. He can get pretty protective sometimes and he has a really short temper; so he needs someone who can keep him in his place too."

"I see…" Gwen trailed off. Could she really be all those things? She wasn't so sure, but she was damn well going to try.

* * *

><p>"You know, you don't talk about your family much."<p>

"Huh?" Merlin called from the bathroom.

"I said you don't talk about your family much." Arthur yelled back over the sound of running water.

"No, I guess not." The dark-haired man admitted; turning off the hot water to allow the conversation to continue.

"Do you still live with your mum?"

"No… I moved out a while ago."

"Are you close?"

Merlin nodded, despite the fact that he knew Arthur couldn't see him. "All we have is each other; she's my best friend."

"That must be nice…" The blond mused, his back leaning on the bathroom door. "What's she like?"

The dark-haired man sank back into his bubble bath with a sigh. "She's… the best. She knows me better than I know myself. I don't know what I'd do without her."

"Does she work?"

"She used to," He said slowly, scooping up the bubbles around him. "She made jewellery; she even had a shop at one point. But it… it got to be too stressful eventually."

"You must miss her."

"More than anything."

'_That must be nice…_' Arthur repeated in his head. What a connection they must have to feel that way. What he wouldn't give to have that with his father…

"Is there anything you miss?" Merlin called from the bathroom, breaking his train of thought.

The blond paused to think. "Truthfully, no."

"Nothing? Nothing at all?"

"No, not really." He admitted with a sigh. "Father and I… we're not as close as we could be. Besides, my new flat just doesn't feel like a home. Nowhere does really, it always feels as though there's something missing."

There was silence. Arthur wriggled awkwardly in his seat by the door. He heard a splashing sound.

"I'm getting out." Merlin announced.

"O-okay." Arthur flushed. "If you look in the cupboard below the sink I think there are some towels."

"Okay, thanks!" The dark-haired man called, wrapping said towel around his hips.

The blond man stood up and went to turn on the television, which he fiddled with until Merlin emerged in a shirt and pyjama bottoms.

"Was it worth it?"

"Huh?"

Arthur grinned. "The bath; was it as good as you expected?"

"O-oh," Merlin flushed briefly and nodded. "Yes, thank you."

"You wanna' watch a film?"

He shrugged. "Sure, what are you thinking of?"

"I don't know; they've got a ton of stuff on this Netflix thing. What's your favourite film?"

The dark-haired room dived onto the bed and laughed. "Ah, I like loads of films."

"Well, name a few then." Arthur pushed with a grin.

"Uhm… Shawshank Redemption, The Blind Side, The Usual Suspects and some animated stuff too like Spirited Away or The Simpsons Movie."

"I've never seen The Blind Side, we could watch that?"

Merlin shrugged. "Why not, I've not seen it in a while."

"Awesome."

* * *

><p>"Maybe I should go up…" Gwen mused out loud as she sipped her tea beside her friends.<p>

"No." Morgana and Freya said simultaneously. Freya flushed and gestured for the older woman to continue.

"Leave them," The dark-haired woman continued, cupping her own mug in her hands. "What good would interrupting them do?"

Gwen shrugged in response. "It might help them to stay focused."

"I'm sure they won't get distracted."

Freya bit her lip, she wasn't so sure.

* * *

><p>Upon waking the next day, Merlin was immediately aware that he was not in his own room and that unnerved him. His eyes jerked open and he froze. He was lying exactly parallel to Arthur, who, thankfully, was still asleep.<p>

The first thing that really hit him about the sight was to wonder how on earth the blond could be so peaceful in so awkward a situation. That softened expression and deep breathing; how could he not realise how… how bad it would look if someone happened to walk in? They must have been sleeping so close together, far too close for a normal couple of friends. He sat up.

They must have fallen asleep before the film ended. Thank god he'd woken first. He swore quietly under his breath, before looking to the clock on the table beside the bed. He visibly relaxed upon seeing the time. It was four in the morning; his body must have known that something wasn't right. No one would be up yet; he could sneak downstairs and no one would have to know. Not Arthur, not Gwen, not anyone. He took a deep breath and slowly slid off the bed, before tip-toeing back downstairs in order to prepare for the competition that day.

* * *

><p>Arthur awoke to noise. He could hear it coming from downstairs and, upon registering the time, he realised why. It was the day of the HaveHave Not competition. Then the events from the previous night came flooding back. He jumped up from the bed.

Where was Merlin?

He put his head in his hands; he didn't fall asleep halfway through the film, did he? Fuck, he hoped not. He took a deep breath; there was nothing he could do now. He headed for the shower in order to prepare himself to host the competition.

* * *

><p>Around half an hour later, the houseguests were herded outside into the garden. The garden looked relatively normal for once; the only intruding object was a large blue plastic cover, which had been thrown over the middle of the grassy section of the garden. Arthur and the rest of the Populars crossed the cover to separate themselves from the other groups.<p>

"Welcome to our second Have/Have Not competition!" Arthur announced cheerily, smiling to the competitors. "As HOH for the week, I can declare that the Populars are definitely 'Have's for the week! But this competition is about determining who will be the 'Have Not's this week!"

The contestants boo-ed appropriately and Arthur continued. "To help make up numbers, however, the Populars will still participate in the competition. Now, before I tell you all what the contest involves, each clique must pick a single member to participate."

The houseguests burst into conversation as they speculated as to what the competition might entail and to who might perform best for their group.

"Any idea what it is?" Gwen pressed Merlin.

"What? No, not at all."

"Okay," Freya cut off Gwen, who looked ready to protest. "Merlin; why don't you take care of this one?"

"A-ah, sure." He couldn't exactly refuse, could he? Besides, since when did Freya have so much confidence in him?

He could vaguely hear Vivian demanding to participate on the other side of the cover, whilst Morgana and Morgause, as well as Gwaine and Elyan, huddled closely while they made their decision.

"Alright, listen up everyone!" Arthur called a few minutes later. "Will all participating houseguests please step onto the cover."

Merlin, Vivian, Gwaine and Morgause all stepped onto the blue sheet. Arthur sent Merlin a cautious smile, the reply was equally so. The blond looked away.

"Okay, here we go then." He smiled as he picked up his cards to read from. "In this competition, each contestant will be pitted against another one at a time and the last man standing wins a special cash prize and gets to pick this week's 'Have Not's. But what do you have to do to win? Well, you're going to be catching and throwing various items. Now, this might sound easy, but just you wait."

He paused to grin. "Okay, the first round will be between Morgause and Gwaine."

Merlin and Vivian stepped off the mat to allow the competition to begin.

"In this round, you two will be effectively playing catch with water bombs. The first person to drop or break the balloon loses. Gwaine, please take a balloon from the bucket."

Gwaine did so, squeezing the delicate object in his right hand.

"Alright, you may begin."

Right on the word 'begin', Gwaine threw the balloon towards Morgause with a small under-arm toss. She was taken aback by his speed, but was quick enough to catch it before it hit the ground. She took a visibly deep breath before throwing it back. Gwaine caught it deftly before throwing it back again with the same speed as before. This time, Morgause was not so swift and the balloon, upon hitting her left hip, broke; leaving a rather embarrassing stain on her vest. She glared at the victorious man.

"And Gwaine wins round one! Morgause, you are out." Arthur announced. "Alright, Merlin and Vivian; it's your turn."

Merlin and Vivian swapped places on the mat with Gwaine and Morgause. Vivian glared down her opponent, but the dark-haired man just smiled in response.

"Okay, you two will be doing the same, but with eggs. The winner will play against Gwaine. Merlin," The man looked up at the sound of his name. "Please come and take this box of eggs."

Merlin obeyed, avoiding the blond's gaze as he took the box and attempting to ignore the sly brush of the blond's hand against his. He was just so embarrassed, despite the fact that Arthur evidently had no idea what had taken place the night before. He sighed and told himself to suck it up, as he turned around to focus on the competition once more.

Fortunately, this round ended up being nowhere near as long as the last one. Merlin tossed the egg to Vivian after taking a deep breath; but all the blonde did was squeal loudly and twist her body where she stood as the egg hit her. Arthur's grin fell.

"Merlin wins. Round three acts as the decider; Gwaine vs. Merlin."

Gwaine stepped up with a smirk. Merlin clenched his hands into fists, he had to win this. He had to prove to Arthur that he was a worthy ally; as well as a worthy friend. If he didn't… Arthur may very well decide that the other side of the house, Gwaine's side of the house, was more worthy of his backing.

"You two will be fighting it out with egg-water balloons; essentially, a water balloon with an egg inside. So, please, begin when and as you wish."

Merlin reached into the blue bucket by his feet for the balloon. It was smooth and wet, the egg inside didn't seem to add any further grip. He took a deep breath before tossing the balloon.

Gwaine caught it with ease and threw it back just as quickly. Merlin fumbled his catch, but didn't drop the balloon, at least, not quite. The tension was building, his hands were shaking and his palms were sweaty. But he threw it back. Gwaine couldn't seem to quite get a grip on the balloon this time. It slipped from his hand, but his other hand managed to keep it from hitting the ground. He grinned, before throwing it back and, this time, Merlin couldn't quite catch the balloon. The low throw hit the ground just in front of his legs, causing him to jump back, for fear he'd get wet. As the realisation that he'd lost hit him, he felt himself sink.

"Gwaine wins!" Arthur announced with a forced smile. "Gwaine please come up here with the rest of your clique to decide who will become the 'Have Not's this week."

The blond would have been lying to say he didn't want Merlin to win. After all, a win for an ally was virtually a win for himself, though it did bring him to wonder where he lay with Gwaine and Elyan. Still, he smiled at the winner and gestured for them to make their announcement.

"The 'Have Not's this week," Gwaine began with a smirk. "Are the Brains."

Morgause hissed out loud and seemed ready to pounce on the man, but Morgana held her back, though she herself continued to glare at the opposing clique.

"Sorry guys!" Arthur said with a sympathetic smile. "That makes you the 'Have Not's for the week; feel free to make yourself comfortable in your new room. I'll see you all at the nominations ceremony tomorrow."

* * *

><p>"Merlin."<p>

The dark-haired man looked up to the blond at the top of the stairs. Arthur gestured towards his room with his head and, before he really thought about what he was doing, Merlin nodded and followed the blond up. When had that become so natural?

"So," Arthur began when they were finally inside. "How are you feeling?"

"Disappointed." He admitted. "But it could be worse. How about you?"

"Yeah, yeah; I'm fine." Arthur brushed off the question, closing the door behind them

"You're not nervous at all?" Merlin asked as he opted for the couch rather than the bed once again.

"About what?"

"Nominations. I mean, it's tomorrow, right?"

The blond shrugged. "There's not anything I can do about it. Whatever I do, someone won't be happy."

"I guess." The dark-haired man said slowly, leaning back into the leather seat. "Look, I'm not trying to influence your decisions, I mean; you probably wouldn't let me do that even if I wanted to. I just… if you're finding things hard, you don't have to cover it up. Not in front of me."

Arthur smiled with surprising sincerity. "I know. But this is still a competition."

"I know that," Merlin assured him. "Just know that you don't have to suffer through it alone."

The blond felt himself shudder against his will. Somehow, after seeing Merlin in a particular light, he could not _un_see it. Now that he saw beauty in the young man, it wouldn't go away. And it unnerved him. He'd never thought of another member of his sex as being 'beautiful' before. It was not a comfortable feeling, it was not a feeling he was accustomed to. But, no matter how much he might he might want it to just vanish, it would not. Besides, though it was not a sensation he was secure in, he was not entirely sure that he wanted it to disappear altogether either.

"I trust you, Arthur." The dark-haired man continued, holding Arthur's gaze insistently. "I know you'll make the right decision."

* * *

><p>"Do you really think we'll be alright tomorrow?" Gwen asked once again, as they lay in bed that night.<p>

"Yes," Merlin replied impatiently; how many more times would he have to say it? "I'm totally sure."

"What makes you so sure?"

He took a deep breath. "We just understand each other. I trust him."

"Really?"

"Completely."

* * *

><p>Merlin woke up early the next day and did not feel nearly as well-rested as he had the day before. But he tried to wipe all memories of that night from his mind as he got up and prepared for the day ahead.<p>

The atmosphere in the house on a nominations day was never going to be positive, but somehow it felt especially suffocating that day. Sure, he kept replaying the scene from the night before in his head; the amazement he'd seen on Arthur's face when he said he trusted him. That was a real bond; a real friendship. It was the first time he'd felt so connected to someone that wasn't his mother and he had convinced himself that the look he'd witnessed on the blond's face meant that Arthur felt it too. There was something quite unusual between them, though neither of them had quite put their finger on it yet.

* * *

><p>The next time Merlin laid his eyes down on the man they were all sitting around the round table. Two seats were empty now and Merlin had to remind himself that, soon enough, a third would also be so. But he held his nerve and pressed his lips shut as Arthur placed the key-filled contraption on the table.<p>

"Welcome to the third nominations ceremony," The blond began, not smiling or grinning and, for once, not trying to hold a certain dark-haired man's gaze. "As HOH, I will pull the first key."

He did as he said he would, clutching the first key and pulling it with ease from the circular block.

"Lancelot." He read, before handing the key to his clique-mate.

The blond smiled and mumbled a small 'thank you', though he knew it was just a formality. He pulled the next key.

"Vivian." Well, that was to be expected.

The girl smiled sweetly and snatched her key from Lancelot, before pulling the next one quickly.

"Morgana." She read with a scowl on her face. She passed the key to the grinning woman on the other side of the table.

"Thank you," She nodded to Arthur, visibly surprised, before pulling the next key. "Morgause."

The two women shared a brief moment of happiness, involving no small amounts of giggling and hugs, before Morgause finally pulled the next key.

"Merlin," She read with a grin.

The dark-haired man felt himself relax; he was through. He grinned and thanked Arthur briefly, before looking around him. The only people without keys now were Gwaine, Elyan, Freya and Gwen. Everything seemed to be going to plan. It was perfect! He'd got Arthur's trust; he'd put Gwaine and Elyan up for eviction and not any of his friends! He couldn't believe his luck. But, before he could celebrate, he had to pull the next key. Upon reading the name, his grin fell.

"Gwaine."

The bearded man stood and took his key from Merlin quickly, allowing the dark-haired man mere seconds to register what had happened. With a dazed expression, he sat. But everything continued around him at a hurricane's pace. Gwaine pulled the next key quickly, somehow sensing a growing rage inside Merlin.

"Elyan." He read, with an unsurprised grin that only served to anger the dark-haired man further.

Careful to keep his eyes off Merlin, Arthur stood.

"Gwen, Freya," he addressed the couple. Freya looked surprisingly calm, was it possible that perhaps she'd sensed something, despite the surety of her clique-mates? Arthur did not think it possible. Gwen's reaction, on the other hand, was far more predictable. She looked shell-shocked, but the beginnings of tears were already there. She held Arthur's gaze like a wounded animal, but he felt no regret.

"I have nominated the two of you because you were easy targets; sitting ducks, you might say. Neither of you are really playing the game, so I may as well take you out. Besides, I don't see either of you as strong allies." He took a deep breath. "That concludes this nominations ceremony."

And he knew it was cowardly, and a bad show, but he found himself heading for his room as soon as he'd said his part. He just couldn't face the consequences, not yet. He didn't trust himself not to do something stupid; besides, he couldn't even look him in the eye. The urge to just get out took over. So he practically ran upstairs, while the rest of the house guests just watched. At least, that was what he thought.

He flung his bedroom door open and stormed to the window, holding his head in his hands. He didn't even look back to check that the door had shut, because it locked automatically in a way that made it impossible to get in without his key. But, when he heard the door shut and lock audibly, he knew something was up. He turned around.

If he'd have just paid more attention; he'd have seen Merlin follow him up the stairs and slip into the room before the door could close. He'd have seen it and he would have been able to avoid it. But he hadn't and now he was faced with the fury of a man he could barely look at.

"What is it?" He said with feigned impatience, eyes still on the ground. But, on Merlin's end, it didn't seem so feigned.

"What the fuck do you think it is?" The dark-haired man spat back, hands clenched as he shook with pure rage. "What the _fuck _was that?"

Arthur shrugged and turned around; he could feel the anger emanating from the man. It didn't feel good to know he'd caused that, not at all. But he couldn't bring himself to face it, couldn't force himself to confront his consequences. He just couldn't look in that poor man's hurt eyes. It made something inside him cry out in pain.

"I-it's a game," He reasoned automatically, no longer really thinking about what he said and the effect it might have. "If you can't play, go home."

"You son of a-"

He didn't need to hear the end of Merlin's final utterance to know the man was coming towards him. Instinctively, he turned around and, with lightning speed, caught the fist that had been launched towards him. His defensive nature kicked in and, keeping a firm grip on the man's wrist, pinned him against the nearby wall.

Merlin's face was flushed, perhaps in anger or, perhaps, in something totally different. Their breathing was heavy, laboured by fury and panic. Something clicked. The dark-haired man he'd restrained was suddenly not looking at him as if he wanted him to drop down dead, suddenly he softened. Those grey eyes… it felt as though they could see right through him. As if they could see the disgusting line of thought running through his mind. He felt his heart-rate increase to a pounding in his ear. Somehow, everything seemed to be coming to a head now; they were reaching their crescendo. If he strained to listen, maybe he'd hear the violin melody, the rising tune that could only end in one thing.

Nothing was rushed, nothing was hurried. At that moment, they had all the time in the world. Awkwardly, Arthur felt his head lower to the height of the man beneath him. And Merlin wasn't pushing him off, wasn't struggling or protesting. His flush deepened, Arthur swore he could hear the same throbbing drum of a heartbeat in the man beneath him that he was, himself experiencing. And then, as the dark-haired man's eyes fluttered to a close, Arthur could think of only one thing.

It wasn't the amazing movie-worthy kiss you've probably read about in other tales. It was chaste and soft. They were barely touching, so cautious were they, so scared. The slightest pressure, the gentlest touch. A feeling of peace, a peace Arthur had never experienced before, wrapped around him. His whole body just seemed to relax; it just melted against the touch of this other man. Never had so insignificant an action had so profound an effect on him. Never, in all his life, had he known a feel of calm such as this. A feeling of home, of belonging. The blond's grip on Merlin's wrist slackened and, as he slowly, reluctantly, pulled back, he became suddenly aware of Merlin's hand, currently splayed out on his chest. The dark-haired man shuddered, eyes half-lidded, as he tried to take in what had just occurred. How could he possibly put it into words?

That feeling of absolute peace slowly slipped from Arthur's grasp, as he looked back at Merlin in wonder. His mind was going at one hundred miles an hour. Panic set in, the feeling that they didn't have enough time quite suddenly came to the forefront of his mind. The array of complex emotions he'd felt before pounced on him once more; everything hit him at once. Everything that had mattered before came flooding back. But he wanted more, he couldn't just stop now; he wanted to know how far this could go. That peace… what he wouldn't give to feel it again. After all, isn't that what we all want? That feeling of absolute contentment.

Before Merlin got the chance to properly register what was going on, the blond pressed an open-mouth kiss to his lips.

Arthur now got the toe-curling, hair-standing-on-end kiss he was, perhaps, more familiar with. Even Merlin seemed to sense the difference; he practically froze for a second or two. But Arthur was more persistent than he expected and, soon enough, the blond registered the fact that it was no longer just his lips moving. He felt elevated at the realisation that Merlin was kissing him back and slowly let his arm slip around the man's waist. The heat of the kiss heightened and, for some reason, the desire to feel the dark-haired man against him quickly escalated to become a necessity in its own right. He'd never felt so suffocating a need, he could think of no other choice but to surrender to it. And it felt like the most normal thing in the world, when faced with so passionate a moment, to let himself go.

That hurried feeling, the panic, was reflected in the kiss. It was no longer calm and gentle, but raw and passionate. Technique went out the window, somehow the sensation of Merlin's lips against his cancelled out all coherent thought. All Arthur could think to do was pour every ounce of emotion he felt into the kiss instead and, from the sound of the delicious noises the man who was pressed against him kept making, it was working.

You must understand that Arthur was not a stranger to acts of intimacy. He knew his way round a woman's body and he knew it well, but this… this was something entirely different and, somehow, not altogether repulsive. Suddenly he felt totally aware of the other man pressed against him. He could sense it all; the hand on his chest, the fingers in his hair, the teasing promise of bare skin under that shirt. Every cell in his body felt alive, like he could do anything, anything at all. It was almost too much for one man to bear. He was shaking and shuddering and tingling all over, as he felt himself harden from such minimal contact with another human being. Even after all of those women… he'd never felt this with any of them. He'd never felt so connected to another person before. They moved together as a single being, like two pieces of a puzzle, two sides of the same coin.

But the underlying sense of desperation was still there, underneath it all. Knowing that this could not continue and would not continue, but craving more. _Needing _more.

Before it could develop any further, Merlin finally made good use of the grip he had on the blond's chest and he pushed the man back forcefully. Arthur stumbled backwards, but managed to find his balance before he fell backwards onto the bed. When he looked back at the Merlin, he was charging towards him again and, this time, he didn't catch the man's punch before it reached him. He cried out in pain at the collision, allowing Merlin to make his escape before Arthur could even try to stop him.

When the pain dulled, Arthur froze. He held a hand to his chest. It was over. Besides, i-it had been nothing; nothing at all. So why was his heart still pounding like that? Why were his hands still shaking? Why did he feel so, dare he say it, aroused?

He felt himself flush and he fell back on his bed, hiding his face.

'_What __**was **__that?_'

Arthur wasn't quite sure and he wasn't entirely certain that he wanted to find out. I-it was just… At that moment, when he had him against the wall like that, and he was all flushed a-and the heavy breathing…

What could he say in his defence? Arthur sighed. It was stupid, it wouldn't happen again. He wasn't gay. Wasn't his colourful history with women enough to prove that? It was just a silly mistake, a blip on the radar. No one had to know. Merlin wouldn't tell anyone, right? No, he wouldn't want to face questions about his sexuality either. Ah, but then there were the cameras.

He groaned out loud, but there was nothing he could do about the cameras. As if they'd pass up the opportunity to air a clip like that on national TV. Fuck, what would everyone think? It wasn't like the British public, still so attached to Christian tradition, was entirely accepting of homosexuals. But that didn't matter, because he wasn't one. He was sure of it.

His thoughts remained in such a state for a while. But through all the denial and determination to prove himself otherwise, there was the memory. The memory of peace, of passion, need and desperation. And it was a memory he wouldn't be able to wipe so easily from his mind. Something far greater than he could understand was occurring right under his nose, not that he'd acknowledge it until it was too late.

* * *

><p>All he wanted to do was cry. And that was not a standard reaction for a man of his age. But, truthfully, he felt like he just wanted to break down and weep on the spot. Every emotion in his body was crying out at once and the sensation of feeling so much at one time was overwhelming. Even for a man like Merlin, who'd had his fair share of sorrow.<p>

He hadn't been able to storm downstairs immediately, it was too much. He slammed the door behind him and shakily sat on the couch outside. He held his head in his hands.

'_What was that?_' He practically shook at the recollection. '_What the __**fuck **__was that?_'

He took in a deep, laboured breath. He wasn't quite sure. One minute he'd been poised to punch the guy and, the next, he'd been… He sighed and tried to replay the scene once again.

He'd followed Arthur upstairs. He'd just been so angry, so overwhelmed by fury that he couldn't just let the blond run away. All he could think about was how much he wanted to hurt him, to hurt him to the same extent that he had been. But he knew that was impossible, because the pain of betrayal wasn't the same as the physical scar he'd left Arthur with. Then again, he wasn't to know the emotional impact he'd had on the man.

But Arthur was too quick, too strong; he'd caught his first measly attempt at a punch. And from there, everything had just gone wrong. Merlin had never been in fist fights before, but the way Arthur had pressed him against that wall… he was almost certain that wasn't standard for a manly brawl. It had taken him by surprise and then… then there was that first kiss.

Merlin felt himself flush. '_W-we barely touched. There's no way that counts. I-I mean, it was barely even a kiss!_'

But then they'd pulled back and that's where it should have ended. But it didn't… they'd just let it get worse. Why, god, _why _had he let it go on? He should've pushed the guy back at the first sign of trouble. He wasn't gay, he wasn't attracted to men.

Then he realised that he could tell himself that over and over again to his heart's desire, but it didn't change what had happened.

And what made it all that much worse was the fact that every part of him was crying out for more at the time. His heart rate had increased to a point where he honestly wondered if he was having some sort of heart attack; his fingers had somehow made their way into Arthur's hair and, for some unknown reason, his libido hadn't found the situation entirely disagreeable. Stupid, treacherous body.

Fortunately, after letting himself feel rather than think for far too long, he'd come to his senses when that bastard had tried to stick his tongue in his mouth.

He shuddered. Still, he had to question why he had responded the way he did. Sure, he hadn't been kissed in a few years but… he shouldn't have been taken in so easily. His reaction was worrying to say the least. He'd had to force himself to go through with the punch in the end just to retain some normality, some _dignity_. Fuck, what would his mother think when she saw this? Would she be disappointed in him? Hell, she did talk about having grandchildren a lot.

He stood up, forcing himself out of the panic. There was nothing he could do now. He'd been betrayed; despite the fact that he had genuinely believed there was something special between himself and Arthur. He must have been mistaken; all the blond evidently wanted to do was to play games. Apparently, Arthur had some problems that he had to deal with, maybe even some issues with his sexuality, but Merlin wasn't going to be anyone's experiment. Merlin wasn't down with that. He took another deep breath; he just had to carry on. He'd been wrong and, now, it was time to face the music. Somehow, he would ensure that neither of his friends went home. He was sure of it.

* * *

><p>Arthur was experiencing a similar turmoil but, quite unlike his friend, he was less willing to think it through logically, or at all for that matter. But he was given no choice in the matter. Less than ten minutes after the… incident, he was called to the diary room. Alone.<p>

On the walk down, he kept his eyes on the floor; for fear that Merlin might be sitting in the living room for some reason, perhaps in the hope of embarrassing him. He was not, fortunately, so the blond concentrated instead on how he might attempt to save face. The thought of his father seeing what had just happened was… worrying, to say the least. God, what would he say?

But he just told himself to concentrate yet again and took a deep breath before entering the room.

* * *

><p>Will was totally elevated. What they'd just caught on camera was TV gold. He could practically smell the cash bonus they'd all make from those five minutes of footage alone.<p>

When he'd taken the role, he hadn't had high hopes for it. He loved reality TV, boy did he love it, but he knew that it wasn't earth-shattering, mind-blowing stuff. He'd prepared himself for a month or so of vapid wannabes and gold diggers, but he'd ended up with so much more than that. These two… they were a god send. Not just for him, but for the show too. Did they even know what they'd done? Didn't they realise the impact they were having on the outside?

He grinned to himself as he saw Arthur sit down on the screen in front of him. Probably not and, boy, was he ready to hold that over them. Things were about to get even more interesting, he could feel it.

* * *

><p>"Arthur." The producer, still just as elevated as before, began. Arthur could hear the smirk in his voice. He scowled.<p>

"We've got a number of questions for you today, as I'm sure you've already figured out. But, before we begin, is there anything you'd like to say?"

If there was any way that they'd somehow missed their… encounter, it was gone now. Arthur felt himself flush. He looked down and shook his head.

"Fair enough." The producer continued. "First of all, we just want you to confirm that it was you, in fact, who initiated the kiss."

Arthur winced at the word and felt his flush deepen. That word sounded far too… romantically involved. What had happened, what had really happened, was nothing of the sort. No romance he'd seen before had been quite so… overwhelming as that. That kiss had been much, much more than any scene in a film. Romance was a controllable factor, what Arthur had experienced in that room was uncontrollable, to say the least.

But he nodded nonetheless. There was no way he could deny it.

"And what, exactly, were your motives behind this little… experiment?"

"I-I," He stuttered before clearing his throat loudly. "It was… strategic."

"Strategic?" The producer didn't sound so convinced. "Please elaborate."

"I-I knew I'd be betraying him, but I wanted to try and keep our alliance intact." The lies just flowed off the tongue so easily. "It… seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

"So there were no romantic motives behind it? You don't have feelings for Merlin? I mean, you told us just a week or so ago that you were straight."

"And I meant it when I said it." The blond hit back cuttingly. "I am not gay. I do not have feelings for Merlin and I do not intend to pursue any sort of romantic relationship with him. It was purely strategic."

Some of it was true, that's for sure, but not all of it by any means. His impatience alone revealed that. But Will, as someone experienced in this industry, knew that, no matter how much he pressed Arthur, no great revelation would come. For now, all he could give his audience was a look into Arthur's mindset at the time, in the hope that they might see it change in the future. God, he hoped it changed. It was hard not to become emotionally involved with these two, especially as a fan of reality TV. Still, all he could really do was to wait and watch.

"You may leave when you wish."

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." It was all Merlin could say when he laid eyes on the weeping Guinevere, after finally retreating to his room.<p>

She forced a smile before breaking down into tears again. Poor girl, nominations had obviously taken her by surprise.

"I'm really sorry; I had no idea he would do that." He embraced the girl, who was sitting beside Morgana and Lancelot on her bed. Freya was sitting on Merlin's bed, calm as anything. Apparently Gwen was the only one in need of comfort. She continued to cry loudly on Merlin's shoulder as Lancelot rubbed her back soothingly.

"We'll get him back, I promise. I won't let either of you go home." He said softly, as if just by saying it he could make it true. Gwen seemed to eat it up though, and he pulled back to let her be embraced by Lancelot.

"Are you alright?" Morgana asked him, genuinely concerned, as he wiped his eyes. Just the thought of either of his friends leaving was upsetting, especially when he felt guilty for not being able to prevent it. "You were up there a while."

He nodded quickly. "We just had a massive argument."

'_That's strange,_' the dark-haired woman looked sceptical. '_I didn't hear any shouting._' But she smiled and kept her doubts to herself.

"Would Merlin please come to the diary room."

Merlin sent Guinevere a sympathetic smile and promised to come back as soon as he was done. Morgana, however, still wasn't convinced.

'_What happened up there?_'

* * *

><p>"Good afternoon, Merlin." The producer said pleasantly as he sat in front of the camera. "I'm sure you know why you're here."<p>

He nodded calmly in response.

"Okay, then, if you're ready, we'll begin." Will took a deep breath. "First of all, how do you feel about nominations?"

"I feel…" Merlin's voice shook at the very mention. "Angry. I feel like I've been manipulated; I think Arthur's used me for his own gains."

"And you didn't expect that? Everyone warned you about him; weren't you at all suspicious?"

The dark-haired man sighed. "I knew what he was like; I knew that he was just as determined to win as I was. I just…"

"Just?" Will pushed slowly.

"I just thought that we had something more between us. I thought our friendship actually meant something… I guess not."

"And that 'something more' was what we saw in the HOH room earlier?"

Merlin froze. "N-no, that was…"

"What was it, Merlin?"

He scowled. "I'm not quite sure. Arthur's obviously temporarily lost his mind."

"You didn't seem to mind too much at the time."

"I-I…" Merlin flushed. "He took me by surprise."

"Hm." The producer didn't sound convinced. "I'm sure we'll have more to talk about later, so please feel free to leave when you wish."

Merlin took a deep breath and stood.

* * *

><p>Arthur wasn't feeling so good. His head was throbbing and he was hungry, but he didn't want to go downstairs, not yet. Vivian had come to the door, had asked to come in. She'd sounded far too happy and he'd refused to open the door for her. Their alliance was sealed now; what more could he need from her?<p>

That was right… his alliance was sealed now. So why wasn't he happy? Everything was over; it was done. So why didn't he feel relieved? He'd done what was smart, what anyone would have done in his situation, right?

He didn't want to answer those questions, not really. He was _scared_ to answer those questions; was scared of the side of himself he'd uncovered by accident. He rolled over on the bed to cover his face from the cameras.

He was ashamed. Though he didn't, perhaps, quite understand why, at least, not at this point. His eye caught the side of the room; that window, that wall; just a few hours earlier…

He flushed.

How disappointed would his father be in him? He doubted he'd be able to convince him that it was really just strategy. No matter how much he tried to convince his father now, he'd be sure to question his son's sexuality. However, of that one thing, Arthur was still sure.

Arthur Pendragon was not gay. He was not attracted to men, he was certain of it. He didn't fantasize about the male figure in the same way he did the female figure; he didn't see each man he met as a prospective lover. But, despite all of that, he could not deny that he was, to a certain extent, attracted to Merlin. And Merlin just so happened to be a man.

The Merlin part, he could accept. The man part… he wasn't so sure.

Arthur sighed; he'd get over it, eventually. He had to. A friendship, or whatever he had, with Merlin wasn't going to help him in the slightest right now, no matter how much he craved it. Whatever it was.

* * *

><p>Freya wasn't feeling too good either. She'd seen it coming, boy, had she seen it coming; but had she done anything about it? No, and now it was coming to bite her in the ass.<p>

Merlin was well-intentioned, yes, she trusted him too, but she doubted the true extent of his power over the situation. If she wanted to get out of this, she'd have to do it herself, but just how she'd do that, she wasn't sure.

* * *

><p>Everything seemed but a blur as Merlin lay in bed that night. How was it possible that so much could change so very quickly? He sighed; he'd never seen it coming. He'd like to say he did, but he didn't. He... he had genuinely trusted Arthur; he'd given him that trust. But that only made the betrayal that much worse. Arthur had been well aware of the faith Merlin had put in him and he'd just walked over it like a piece of rubbish on the floor.<p>

Merlin could feel the anger welling up inside him just thinking about it. If he wasn't so tired, he'd be storming upstairs to give that son of a bitch a second punch.

'_And look how well that ended last time?_'

He winced, as his brain gave him a thoroughly unwanted reminder of Arthur's lips on his. He shuddered; somehow he knew that that would be an image he wouldn't rid himself of so quickly.

And then there was Gwen. Fuck, it hurt just to think about her now. He couldn't tell her, she'd go mental. Besides, Arthur was just playing games; he wasn't _serious_. Was he?

No, no. He couldn't be. Why on earth would he go for someone like Merlin when he had Guinevere and Vivian practically begging for it? No, it couldn't be.

Merlin sighed. If only Arthur was a little nicer, perhaps something between him and Gwen would have worked out. But Gwen was too sensitive, too vulnerable when she was around the blond and Arthur… Arthur was too brash, too ambitious to be around someone like her too long without hurting her.

But maybe Merlin was wrong, maybe something still _could _happen between them and, if so, the only person in the way seemed to be him.

How long could they cover it up? He couldn't even hold back a blush every time he thought about the man, how on earth was he going to face him at the Veto competition in a few days? It was only a matter of time before someone clicked on, and what if they told Gwen? She'd never forgive him… never.

He took a deep breath. Worrying wouldn't change shit; there was nothing he could do now. He just had to take it one day at a time and hope that, somehow, he'd be able to make it up to Gwen before she realised that something was up. And keep that perverted son of a bitch away from him before something even worse happened.

He closed his eyes; he just needed to sleep now. He had to calm down. If he wanted to beat Arthur's ass at the Veto competition the day after next, he had to concentrate. If Arthur had wanted to throw him off his game with that kiss, he wasn't going to give him the pleasure. No matter how hard it was to forget.

* * *

><p>Morgana couldn't sleep either, something just wasn't right, she knew it. If Merlin and Arthur had been arguing, as Merlin had claimed, why had it been so quiet? As soon as Merlin followed the blond upstairs, they'd all frozen in their seats, straining to hear whatever was being said upstairs. But they heard nothing, only the muffled sounds of stomping. Which begged her to question just what they'd done up there.<p>

And she wasn't so sure about Arthur's motives behind this week's nominations. If he was really going after the weak competitors, if he was going to do it right, then surely he should be nominating Merlin rather than Freya? Freya had been far more successful than her clique-mate in competition, and hadn't attempted to feed off the stronger competitors as Merlin had. Given the nominations, Arthur obviously felt no loyalty for Merlin, so why was he holding back? What on earth was restraining him?

If only she could have connected the two things together. Then again, even if she had, she probably never would have completely fathomed out the complex bonds connecting the people around her. No one - not Merlin, not Arthur, not Morgana, nor Freya – could truly comprehend the mess that had been made. Everything was twisted and tangled into a virtually unrecognisable ball of crap. If only they could have seen it, if only it could have been simpler.

But these things never are and the worst was yet to come.

* * *

><p><strong>I wanted to a full week in one chapter; but the chapter would just be too damn long. Sorry!<strong>

**I promise I'll try my hardest to write more soon, it's just hard to find the time. Before finishing this chapter, I had to spend three days re-reading my **_**own **_**fic! I'll do my best though; nagging does help!**

**Oh, and please remember, if you want to review, to mention who you'd like to see win and I'd love to be able to feature some more of your questions to Merlin/Arthur/anyotherbloodycharacter as fan questions, so keep them coming!**

**Thank you for all the support; we had over 30 reviews for the last chapter alone, so thanks! See you soon (hopefully)!**

**P.S. To 'E' – I'll be awaiting your response.**


	9. Days Nineteen to Twenty Two

**I am quite certain that my writing skills do not deserve the level of praise you people give me, but I thank you nonetheless. For your patience, also, I thank you.**

**I started this chapter whilst I was still on holiday, but it took many more weeks to finish. I apologise for my late updates, but I have a lot going on right now. I'm at that stage where exams are more important than ever, especially if I want to get into a good university. But, as I study, I learn things that develop my writing and, hopefully improve the quality of your reading material.**

**Which brings me to my next point. I feel that a Beta would be beneficial to me. Not just to keep check on my spelling and grammar, but to keep me motivated and kick me up the ass when I need to get going. If anyone's interested, just say! **

**For a while, I thought this story would be forced into a hiatus. Then the fucking the finale happened. Dear god, the finale. My poor, poor heart… I just can't stay away from this couple. I'm currently writing a screenplay for a film, but I allowed myself to be distracted for long enough to finish this chapter.**

**So here it is, the first chapter since Merthur was confirmed canon. My ode to this beautiful couple.**

* * *

><p>Anger isn't an emotion that fades easily. Hurt takes even longer. It seemed almost impossible to differentiate the two when Merlin woke up the next morning. The buzz of the camera rotating didn't comfort him much either. Any hope he maintained that the kiss had somehow been missed or looked over was quickly slipping away. He groaned loudly and rolled onto his stomach.<p>

He hadn't slept much. Events, snapshots of memories kept invading his mind without permission. Things that had originally seemed of little significance suddenly made sense. The couple confession sessions; the sex-orientated questions; the secret looks; the subtle touches. It made him feel sick now just thinking about it.

He knew he should be focusing on the Veto; planning on how he would take his revenge on Arthur. The kiss should be the last thing on his mind right now. The problem was that the two things were so very entwined together, so much so that it was hard to separate them. He just couldn't put it down, not yet. He wanted to understand, he wanted to stop analysing everything.

Perhaps that had been Arthur's plan all along. If so, it had worked well. The betrayal had broken him, but the kiss had fucked with his head in a way that was bordering on ridiculous. Yes, that must have been it. It had to be. Someone like Arthur, someone that talented and successful and charismatic and goddamn fucking beautiful could never be interested in someone like him. It was strategy; nothing more. No emotion, no pleasure, no sincerity. It was as fake as their friendship.

He sat up in his bed. If Arthur thought this was going to break him completely, he was wrong. If it meant nothing to Arthur, it meant nothing to him. This was a competition. It had taken a betrayal to make him realise that. It was time to start playing the game.

* * *

><p>Arthur's resolve was far weaker. His faith in his decision was wavering. It had been so last minute, so spur of the moment, had it really been worth it? He was doubting it now, not that he'd tell anyone that. That letter though… his father had forced him to realise that he was in the midst of a competition. Even now, as much as he hated to admit it, the nature of his relationship with Merlin intrigued him. But Uther was right; there would be plenty of time for that later. Well… perhaps not now.<p>

He felt himself flush. He'd really fucked that one up, hadn't he?

It hadn't been bad though. At least, it hadn't _felt _bad at the time. After all, what difference did it make that those lips were attached to a body with a penis and not a vagina? Still, it had been strange that so chaste a kiss had left such a profound an effect on him…

He stood. Perhaps he should go and try to make amends. It might not be too late, not yet. Merlin couldn't turn him away completely, not when he was in power, not when there was this much… not when they were so… so _connected_. It felt right that they be together. Not in a romantic sense, no, no, no, Arthur Pendragon was not gay. Pengradons are not homosexuals. Just in the sense of… friendship, camaraderie. Having the dark-haired man by his side felt more natural than breathing. And, though that prospect in itself was scary, the feeling of peace Merlin brought with him managed to override all else. He was like a breath of fresh air.

Just as it seemed that he might, in fact, brave the intimidating realm of downstairs, the door knocked. He flinched at the sound, before he recovered and went to open the door. It was Morgana.

"Morning~!" God, she looked so fucking happy. His mood immediately deflated.

Arthur scowled. "What do you want?" Shouldn't she hate his guts by now? Shouldn't she be lending her friends a shoulder to cry on?

Her beaming smile dropped. "You don't have to be so rude."

"What," He continued, dragging out every syllable with audible frustration. "Do you want?"

"Five minutes."

"What?"

She smiled again, sickly sweet. "Just five minutes."

He sighed; he knew that look in her eyes all too well. It was no surprise that she wanted something from him even now, not really. Morgana, as he'd learned from experience, was loyal to everybody and, in the same sense, to nobody at all. She picked whichever side suited her at the time. It must run in the family; he seemed to have fallen into the same abyss.

He opened the door for her. She grinned; she always got her way in the end.

* * *

><p>Freya was on edge, not that anyone seemed to notice. She knew that Arthur would be their downfall. Or, rather, that Merlin's weakness for Arthur would be their downfall. And, yet, she hadn't managed to stop it.<p>

Something had happened between those two; something more than what Merlin was admitting too. But Freya was not one to pry, if it was in any way relevant or important, she'd find out eventually. Still, her patience was waning. They needed to do something, _she _needed to do something. She couldn't rely on Merlin, oh no, he was the one who'd got them into this mess. Besides, if he won the power of Veto he'd probably use it on Gwen. She wasn't so sure about Morgana either. The dark-haired genius appeared to have ulterior motives in regards to her relationship with Gwen, motives that bothered Freya.

Nope, she was on her own. And, to be honest, that was the way she liked it. Being the underdog could be fun, as long as she didn't stay that way for long. For now, she just had to wait and hope desperately that they didn't fuck things up anymore.

* * *

><p>"An alliance."<p>

"An alliance?" Arthur repeated, baffled by his sister's proposal.

She nodded patiently.

"I-I don't understand."

"Look, Arthur, even if you do manage to get rid of Guinevere or Freya, our side of the house still outnumbers you. This is an agreement we could both benefit from."

His eyes narrowed. "Trust you to be switching sides at the last minute."

"I don't think you're really one to talk about double-crossing right now, dear brother."

The smug expression on her face made him scowl. She was right, as much as he might hate it.

"If either I, Morgause, Vivian, or Guinevere wins the Veto, we will use it to the advantage of us as a group, by taking Gwen down from eviction."

"And how, exactly, do I benefit from that, Morgana?"

She smirked. "You'll have a majority under your power for the week, maybe even next week. Besides, you could still remove Freya, if you wished."

"What about after the Veto competition? If, hypothetically, this all went to plan, who do you suggest I nominate in Guinevere's place?"

"I propose a new target."

Arthur felt his heart skip a beat. "Who?"

Her smirk grew. "Merlin."

* * *

><p>Morgana felt relieved when she left the room less than ten minutes later. Though Arthur had seemed shocked at her proposal, she had little doubt that he would accept it. He'd burned too many of his bridges to try and go back now. Whatever he'd had with Merlin, it was gone now, she was just going to ensure that. It was for Arthur's own good, and for her's. He'd been the one to trigger all this; this was how he'd see it through.<p>

She gave Morgause a thumbs-up as she descended the stairs, a smug grin on her face. Of course Morgause knew about the plan, she'd been one of the masterminds behind it. Vivian had been all too keen to back her up. Guinevere, on the other hand, had no idea about their plotting. Though her feelings for Arthur were evidently still strong, she had grown an unnecessary attachment to her clique mates. They didn't need her backing out at the last minute. She'd be informed when necessary, if it was necessary at all. She'd thank them, eventually.

Now all they had to do was win the Veto. Only then would the proposed alliance be of any use. But Morgana, like many other people of that level of intelligence, possessed a misguided feeling of arrogance. There seemed little doubt that they would win the Veto. Everything would work out, as long as Arthur went along as proposed. For some reason, she never doubted that either.

* * *

><p>Merlin was feeling marginally better when Gwaine and Elyan entered his room later that morning. Those were the last two men he'd expected to see, especially now.<p>

It wasn't that he disliked either of them, not really. Their cliques hadn't been on the best of terms at the start and he didn't trust them, wouldn't consider them friends or allies, but could tolerate their company. They could technically be enemies and still sit down and watch some crappy action film on the TV together. In fact, if he looked past the whole competition thing, he actually quite liked the pair. He blamed most of their actions from the first week on Percival anyway.

He smiled weakly, sensing a seriousness in the pair that was rare. He gestured for them to sit down.

"What can I do for the two of you?" He asked pleasantly.

Gwaine took a breath and, hesitating for a second, looked to his companion for reassurance. Elyan nodded silently and he began.

"A proposal."

"I'm… sorry?" Merlin made the statement into a question in his confusion.

"I know it sounds silly, but just listen."

"But I thought-" Merlin cut himself off, eyes flickering from Gwaine, to Elyan, back to Gwaine. "I thought you – what about Arthur?"

"Weak." Elyan said matter-of-factly. "A weak ally."

Gwaine nodded. "We need loyalty. And, from the looks of things, so do you."

Merlin closed his gaping mouth, taking a deep breath as some sort of effort to compose himself. "And what, then, do you propose?"

Gwaine grinned.

* * *

><p>Little else happened that day. Indeed, the above was quite enough. The editors were delighted with the sudden burst in secret alliances the blow-up between Merlin and Arthur had caused. If the series continued like this, they'd probably be paid for ten whole follow-up series upfront. Things couldn't be better.<p>

"Good evening!" The newly-employed presenter beamed on set a few hours later. "Welcome to the first episode of the recap show for Big Brother! We'll be airing after every episode, as well as on Saturdays at 9PM to keep you updated on _everything_ that goes on when you're not looking!"

He grinned at the camera, attempting to ignore his shaking hands. This was his first proper job. How he'd landed such a big one was beyond him. Then again, they'd seemed to be in a bit of a rush to organise it all. He'd only auditioned the day before. He could have just been the best of a bad bunch. Either way, those pay checks were looking pretty sweet right now.

"It's time for our first segment: Brokeback Big Brother." The cheesy intro music played. God only knows how much they'd spent on this segment alone. He smirked and sat down at the bright red table provided for him, holding his cue cards in hand.

"Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few days, you've probably already heard about the latest developments in regards to the relationship between Merlin and Arthur, or '_Merthur_', as many of their fans have dubbed them. Now, you guys have been speculating about these two for weeks, but it wasn't until yesterday that these speculations were confirmed. It's been featured on television all around the world, went viral within three hours and has bred a worldwide fanbase for this couple. Here it is: the kiss that changed the game."

* * *

><p>In Merlin's mind, the only game-changer would happen the next day. On the day in question, he woke early after very little sleep. He'd slept scarcely since nominations at all. It was hard to sleep when his mind was reeling at one hundred miles an hour. But today was the day. Today he would prove himself. Today he would make Arthur regret ever having crossed him. Today he would save his friends. And, finally, maybe he'd be able to feel a little less guilty about everything that had happened <em>that <em>night.

But first, before he could even attempt to do any of that, he had to be picked as one of the participants in the challenge. Surely, fate could award him that if nothing else.

* * *

><p>Arthur felt like shit. Absolute shit. And something told him that the feeling wasn't going to go away any time soon.<p>

It was 11AM, time for him to go downstairs and start the challenge, but he couldn't seem to force himself to do it. He hadn't seen him, hadn't seen Merlin since the… the kiss. He felt his stomach twist in discomfort. He winced in pain at the sensation. He honestly felt like being sick. He should have been more concerned over the challenge itself but, somehow, it paled in comparison to the mere action of going down those stairs.

He shuddered. Could he really do it? Could he face him? But there was no '_could_' about it. It wasn't a choice, not really. He couldn't opt out; it would look weak. If he was going to lose all his friends, he might as well maintain the little pride he had left. There was no '_could_'; he _had _to go.

Taking a deep breath, he ran a hand through his hair and opened the door**.**

* * *

><p>Merlin kept his eyes down when Arthur finally decided to show his face. The rest of the contestants had gathered a good half hour ago, but their glorious leader had taken his sweet time. He scowled, what a prat.<p>

"Good morning," The blond started curtly, eyes flickering to the dark-haired man sitting on the couch to his right. Merlin's eyes were planted firmly on the ground. Who could blame him? Why would he want to look at him?

"It's time for the third Veto competition of the series." Arthur began slowly, taking it word by word. "We will now pick three other contestants to join myself, Freya and Guinevere in the challenge. As HOH, I will pick first."

He turned around and grabbed the silk bag from behind his seat. Averting his gaze to the ceiling, attempting to ignore the hushed whispers around him, he selected a single piece of paper.

"Elyan." He read calmly. To be perfectly honest, he was over this whole thing already. The importance of the Veto competition paled in comparison to… other things. Even if one of his nominees was taken down, it would make very little difference to him. It was entirely unlikely that either of them would be HOH next week, or any of their allies for that matter. He was safe this week and, as long as he was safe next week also, that was all that mattered. That and a certain lanky young man.

He passed the bag to Guinevere, whose hands shook as she took it from him. Their fingers brushed briefly and he looked up in anticipation for the predictable yearning gaze she would send him. It never came.

Maybe he really had burned all his bridges. Maybe it was too late.

Something inside him twisted at that realisation. He felt sick.

"Vivian." The sound of Gwen's voice interrupted his thought process. He had to pull himself together, he couldn't show weakness, not now. Not like he had after nominations. He had to be strong; that was the Pendragon way. And strength didn't involve the lips of a wide-eyed artist.

* * *

><p>Merlin scowled when he heard the name Gwen read. Only one chance left now. Only one chance to wipe that stupid expression off Arthur's face. The blond looked stoic, but somehow still entirely calm. God, hadn't this affected him at all?<p>

Probably not. He was a machine. That was the only way he could have done it. The only way he could have won his trust and then smashed it into a million pieces right in front of his face.

God, he hated him.

Freya took the bag from Gwen in silence, ignoring the weak smile the girl sent her. Freya saw behind it all. She knew exactly what Morgana had in store for her clique-mate. She didn't trust any of them as far as she could spit. Well, perhaps Merlin. But he was relatively useless at this point. Unless he managed to get into power, or somehow smoothed things over with Arthur, he'd be gone soon enough.

The cool smooth feel of paper tickled her fingertips. She picked the nearest piece she could feel and pulled it out.

'_Please, please, please,_' Merlin chanted in his head, eyes squeezing to a close.

Freya breathed a sigh. "Morgause."

'_Fuck._'

* * *

><p>Merlin had never felt so defeated. He dragged his feet as he followed the rest of the contestants outside. It felt like it was all over already. Like all hope was already lost. Regardless, tt must have been written all over his face, he never was very good at hiding his emotion. He felt a hand rest on his upper back.<p>

Gwaine grinned at him. "Don't look so down. I'm sure Elyan will pull through."

He sent his friend back a weak smile. "I know."

He just wished it could have been him everyone was relying on. Maybe he really was useless. Maybe Arthur really had been right to dispose of him. He wasn't worth anything, as a competitor or as an ally. No wonder Arthur had found it so easy.

"Hey," The sound of Gwaine's voice broke his train of thought. "Don't look so down. Things will work out in the end. You can always prove yourself another day."

Merlin felt himself smile. "Thanks Gwaine."

* * *

><p>Arthur scowled as Gwaine walked out of the house with his arm around Merlin's shoulders. He forced himself to look away. He couldn't afford to be distracted. Not now. It was over. It didn't matter. He didn't care.<p>

God, he wished that was true.

The producers had gone all-out again. Half of the garden had been set up as some sort of swamp. It was contained by an ankle-high wooden fence, in order to keep the thick mud-like substance from ruining the grass on the other side. On the far side of this swamp was a tall wooden structure and six rope-swings. By each rope was a stand with four round holes, empty, for now.

Vivian scowled at the sight; not another messy challenge, especially not this. That brown stuff, mud or poo or whatever, looked disgusting. There were little lumps floating around and blades of grass and hair and god knows what else. She put a hand on her stomach, willing away the imminent feeling of nausea welling up inside her.

Arthur, whilst the rest of the contestants chatted amongst themselves, made his way around the swamp, on to the wooden structure. He tried to ignore the fact that Merlin was chatting quite happily with Gwaine at the back of the pack.

"Contestants!" He yelled, a little louder than required. "Would each of the participants please join me up here."

Gwen sent Merlin a weak smile. He sent one right back.

'_Good luck._'

She nodded knowingly. They had to win this one. They had to show Arthur that he couldn't always get his way, that he couldn't throw them around like rag dolls. His demise was imminent; he'd just be another Percival. He was making too many enemies and Merlin had too many friends. She just hoped Merlin kept up this resolve. Truth be told, the closeness between the two had bothered her, even now the thought of them reconciling eventually made her feel a little jealous. This was the way things were meant to be. Us and them. And Arthur was definitely supposed to be one of '_them_'.

"Behind this structure are changing rooms, inside are our outfits," Arthur began once the rest of the contestants were standing beside him. "Please, follow me."

* * *

><p>The contestants returned in drips and drabs to a varied selection of responses. Vivian came out as a baby pink pig, to a collection of muffled giggles. She glared at the audience, as she sat in wait for the others, that was enough to shut them up. At least, for a while.<p>

Next was Gwen, who was dressed as a crocodile. The contestants laughed more openly, with Guinevere, rather than at her. They all exploded; however, when Elyan came out dressed as Shrek. Even Vivian was holding back snorts of laughter. Freya's entrance as a rather stern fish didn't help matters and then Arthur came out. The mint green frog costume, paired with his tomato red flushed face made for an… interesting scene.

Merlin felt himself blush between guffaws. Arthur looked, dare he say it, _cute_. Damn, that sounded wrong. How could he think something like that? He glanced to the grinning man sitting beside him. He definitely wouldn't use the word 'cute' to describe Gwaine; normally he wouldn't use it to describe Arthur either. No, there was nothing wrong with him. He could acknowledge the attractiveness of another male without being gay.

"Okay," Arthur began, collecting himself, willing away the blush on his face. "It's time to begin. We call this competition 'When Pigs Fly'. As you can see, we're all dressed up as swamp animals. During the competition, we will use these ropes to fly into the swamp. Inside the swamp are little round truffles. If you open up the truffles, inside you will find a quantity of points ranging from one to ten or an additional prize of some kind. You can only keep four truffles, so choose wisely. At the end of the competition, the person with the most points wins the power of Veto."

He took a deep breath. This didn't look so hard. Unfortunately, it was more a game of luck than one of skill. Still, he could deal with that. He had just as much chance as everyone else, right?

"Alright, Gwaine," Said man looked up in surprise at the sound of his name being called by Arthur; he'd been engaged in a conversation with Merlin. "Please come and take over the hosting for the rest of this competition."

The blond shot him a condescending smirk as he gave the dark-haired man the cue cards. Gwaine grinned back.

"Jealousy isn't pretty on a girl, Arthur." He whispered into the blond's ear as he took the cue cards. The blond scowled at him; he wasn't jealous. How ridiculous was that? But he took a deep breath, bit his tongue, and stepped away from the bearded nuisance to take his place with the rest of the contestants. There was no point in making a big show of things. Besides, his father would be watching.

"Alright guys!" Gwaine called, shooting a wink at Merlin, who flushed briefly. Still, he knew not to read too deeply into anything that Gwaine did.

"You have five minutes," He continued, regardless of the confused looks Merlin sent him and the scathing glares a certain blond opted for. "Starting… now!"

* * *

><p>Guinevere, surprisingly, was the first to swing from the wooden structure. She landed with an audible splash, but seemed unaffected by the gloopy brown liquid getting stuck in her hair. Elyan wasn't far behind her though and Arthur wasn't much further behind that. Morgause and Vivian, on the other hand, took a little longer than was necessary. Morgause, in contrast to the similarly blond woman beside her, eventually – after seeing Gwen open her first truffle – jumped in. After a few seconds of sitting in the mud scowling, she seemed to just throw caution to the wind and get stuck in. Vivian took the best part of five minutes to get into the mud at all.<p>

Things seemed to be going well for Arthur to start off with; the first truffle he'd picked up had been a nine. It had seemed only natural to keep it. Unfortunately, things had gone downhill from there. To make matters worse, Gwen and Elyan seemed to be catching up with him. They'd both already found two truffles with a worth of over seven points and he was still stuck with his one nine. So, when he opened his next truffle to find a 'dinner for two' prize inside, a part of him gave up. He clearly wasn't going to win this competition. He wasn't even sure if he _wanted _to win it anymore. Besides, 'dinner for two' sounded… interesting. Like a glimmer of hope had been hidden inside that truffle. He found himself looking up to the audience. His gaze locked with a certain dark-haired man, an unreadable expression on his face.

'_Fuck it._'

* * *

><p>The competition went quickly and, soon enough, the mud-covered contestants were back on the wooden structure, standing beside their row of truffles.<p>

"Okay, guys!" Gwaine called, still with that annoying grin on his face, at least, that's what Arthur was thinking. "It's time to check out the points!"

"First up is Vivian!" Gwaine continued, turning to look at the flushed pink pig on his left. She had one truffle on her stand. "And Vivian's grand total is five!"

The blond flushed a deeper red colour and pouted. It was no wonder; god knows it took her that long to get in the fucking mud. Then again, no one had expected her to be much competition anyway.

"And, next we have Arthur!"

Said blond tried not to glare at the bearded man as he came to stand behind him. He knew he shouldn't be acting so childishly, he knew that none of this should matter, but for some ungodly reason it did.

"Arthur's grand total is twenty! And, in addition to this, he's picked up a 'dinner for two' prize." Gwaine winked suggestively at the blond. The audience went quiet.

Merlin felt himself blush; he could feel many pairs of eyes on him. He looked away.

"It's Gwen's turn!" Guinevere looked pretty happy with herself. "Her total is thirty three points! Wow!" She grinned smugly. Merlin felt pride well up inside him. Maybe, just maybe, they could still win this.

"Next up is Elyan!" He stood patiently beside his sister. It only took one glance at his stand to figure that he wouldn't beat her. "I'm sorry, Elyan, but your total only comes up to thirty points. Guinevere is currently in the lead!"

Unfortunately, Freya's total also paled in comparison to Gwen's. There was only one person left now.

"Morgause!" Gwaine exclaimed, the blonde beside him smirking.

'_Oh no, oh no, oh no,_' Merlin thought, eyes scanning the numbers on her stand.

"And Morgause wins the third Veto competition with a total of thirty-five points!"

* * *

><p>On the other side of the screen, things were going well. The 'dinner for two' prize had been Will's idea. His superiors hadn't been convinced, but they were all eating their words now. He could smell the pay rise already.<p>

He'd really hit the jackpot though. It would have been mildly interesting for any contestant to have picked it up, but for Arthur to have been the one to find it… boy was he lucky. And then, on top of that, the chances of him keeping it. Dear lord, they were onto something here. Clearly, the blond had something, or some_one_, in mind, whether he was willing to admit it on camera or not. Things were progressing nicely. He grinned, and he knew just how to give fate a little nudge.

* * *

><p>"Would Merlin please come to the diary room."<p>

Merlin groaned loudly into his pillow. Since the Veto competition he'd retreated to his room. To be quite blunt, things couldn't have possibly gone any worse. Perhaps, had Morgana won, there would be hope. But not Morgause; she was too unpredictable, too changeable. She wouldn't be swayed easily, even by her clique-mate. He didn't trust her, didn't even consider the fact that she might use the power of Veto in their favour. He'd just stalked back into his room and shut the door.

It was, however, inevitable that he'd be eventually dragged out; he always was. He'd heard them calling names and had, quite patiently, waited to hear his own. But that didn't make things any easier. He slowly forced himself off the bed and, dragging his feet, made his way into the diary room.

"Good afternoon, Merlin." Will said sweetly. His superiors had reserved his services only for Merlin and Arthur now, not that anyone watching would probably notice. He was touched; he obviously did his job well.

The dark-haired man groaned some sort of incoherent reply. He looked tired, he hadn't been sleeping well. Neither of them had been; they'd been monitoring their behaviour closely. Arthur, especially, was showing promising signs. He spent most of his time upstairs; wasn't attempting to make any new friends or new allies. He seemed almost, dare they hope, lonely. Merlin, on the other hand, seemed to be coping a little better, at least, on the surface. He was gradually gaining more confidence in coming out of his room, now that he'd realised Arthur was isolating himself. Still, there were definitely things going on in the heads of those two men that they weren't telling the cameras.

Will smirked. They'd just have to bring them to the surface then.

"How are you feeling about the Veto competition?"

Merlin scowled. "How do you fucking think?"

Will winced; he'd never seen the man like this before. It looked like this confession was going to need some editing.

The dark-haired man took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. "I'm just… I'm not convinced that Morgause is going to use the power of Veto to our advantage…"

"Is she not part of your alliance?"

He sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "She's certainly part of Morgana's alliance, but I'm not even sure about that anymore."

The ensuing silence told Will to continue. "Do you have any other comments on the competition?"

Merlin shook his head.

Will grinned to himself. "Any idea who Arthur will use his prize on?"

Merlin flushed in reply. "N-no, of course not."

"What if he wanted to use it with you?"

"Sh-shut up!" The dark-haired man clenched his fists. "T-that's a stupid idea. I'm sure he'd far rather waste it on Vivian or Morgause or even Guinevere."

"So you haven't thought about it anymore?"

"Thought about what?"

"Merlin."

"I…" He felt himself flush again as he looked down. "I don't want to talk about that."

* * *

><p>Arthur wasn't feeling so good. It wasn't the Veto competition, part of him had always expected to lose. With the whole Morgana alliance in question, it didn't really matter that he'd lost. No, it was something different, something less obvious that was really bothering him.<p>

It wasn't that he was lonely, no, that definitely wasn't it. It wasn't that he missed having someone to talk to, no, it wasn't that either. It wasn't the pair of blue eyes he had grown so fond of being missing. It wasn't the stupid jokes or playful banter. It wasn't the loss of that feeling of home. No, it definitely wasn't any of those things. He didn't need those. He didn't want to need those.

He wasn't lonely.

Arthur Pendragon was not lonely.

… At least, he didn't want to be.

* * *

><p>"Nice one, Morgause." Morgana congratulated her blonde friend, finally given a moment alone.<p>

It was funny to see how far they'd come. They'd been the first clique to lose a member, but then they'd taken HOH and, now, the power of Veto. Morgana felt herself grin, it would be fair to say they were dominating, and that was exactly the way she liked it.

"Thanks," The blonde grinned back at her clique-mate. "So, is everything set?"

Morgana's smile fell a little. "I thought so, but I haven't heard from Arthur. I guess we should just assume that he's given us the go-ahead."

"You really think he'll be able to do it?"

"Do what?" Morgana asked incredulously.

"Y'know," Morgause started uncomfortably, skirting around the issue. "Betray him, _again_."

"Why not?" The dark-haired woman pouted. "There's no way he can go back now; not after nominating both of his clique-mates."

"I know, but I was thinking about things…" The blond trailed off. "Y'know how he said he nominated Gwen and Freya because they were 'weak' competitors?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if he really were going after the 'weak' guys, then why didn't he nominate Merlin in the first place?"

Morgana hesitated for a second. "I know. The same thing crossed my mind."

"There has to be another reason behind it, Morgana." She frowned.

"But what? Surely he doesn't think Merlin would take him back now?"

Morgause shrugged. "He is pretty stupid. You never know, he might retain hope, even now."

"I don't know…"

"Did you see his face when he got that 'dinner for two' thing? He's definitely still hoping."

"But hoping for what?"

"That's just it." The blond smirked. "That's what we have to find out."

* * *

><p>"Would Arthur please come to the diary room."<p>

The blond groaned loudly. If this whole 'confession' thing wasn't part of the contract, he definitely would've given up attending by now. He slowly dragged himself out of his room and made his way down the stairs.

He was so pissed off about being called; he didn't notice the dark-haired man sitting in the kitchen as he descended the staircase. He certainly did notice him, however, when he stood at the bottom of the staircase.

Merlin didn't register his presence immediately either, choosing to make eyes at his cup of tea instead. Arthur froze. The living room/kitchen area was entirely empty apart from them. Where had everyone gone? He felt himself begin to panic.

Merlin looked up. The blond felt his breath hitch and, though just for a second, he couldn't resist the urge to let his eyes flicker to the dark-haired man's lips. God, he could still remember exactly what they felt like. How was that? How, out of the many, many people Arthur had kissed, did he remember this one above all others?

Merlin scowled. Arthur felt himself wince. The dark-haired man picked up his tea and scuttled away quickly, leaving the blond disappointed and slightly breathless in the kitchen.

* * *

><p>He'd taken the easy option. It was easier to run away than to attempt to stand his ground. He just couldn't look him in the eye, not yet. He told himself that it was because of the betrayal; because he'd trusted that man, and he'd abused that. Because he looked like he was winning right now. And, certainly, that was part of it. But there was more to it than that. The real reason why he couldn't look Arthur in the eye was because he thought he didn't care. He thought that all of this - everything; the betrayal; the kiss; the questions; the awkwardness – was having no effect on the blond at all.<p>

And that scared him. Because the effect it was having on him was incomprehensible.

So he had run away. Like a coward. The coward Arthur thought he was. He couldn't help it though. If he wanted to stop having all these… _unnatural _thoughts, he had to stay away. Besides, by associating with the blond he would be letting down Gwen and Freya. He couldn't do that to them, not after they'd looked after him so much. But his anger towards the blond was waning, and fast. It was taking conscious effort to keep it going and that worried him.

He sighed.

* * *

><p>Will knew something was up as soon as the blond sat down. He'd seen the brief exchange between the two men in the living room, but wasn't that a little insignificant for him to be quite so… affected? Maybe there really was something more to these two than what they showed on camera. Maybe there was something more serious going on here.<p>

Well, they'd never find out if these two didn't make up some time. Not that the tension wasn't great for the cameras.

"Good evening, Arthur."

The blond seemed completely oblivious to the greeting, sitting in the leather seat with a gaze that said he was somewhere far away.

"Arthur!" Will called again, sharper this time and the blond jumped in his seat.

"S-sorry." He flushed.

"Fantasizing about a certain somebody, Arthur?"

The blond scowled. "Of course not."

Will smirked; Arthur was just too easy to read. "How are you feeling today? You must be disappointed about the Veto competition."

Arthur shrugged. "Not really."

"Really? It seems to me that that would be a natural reaction, given all the… _strategy _you've been using to mess with the other side of the house."

Arthur scowled in reply; he shouldn't be so surprised that they were pouncing on his every word. They'd be playing that piece of _strategy_ up as much as was possible. He wished it didn't matter to him what the audience thought, but, unfortunately, that audience included his father. If he couldn't convince the rest of the nation, it didn't matter, as long as he could convince his father.

Still, right now he didn't feel as though he was convincing anyone.

"It doesn't matter that I didn't win." He shot back quickly.

"And why is that?"

Arthur smirked; the lies came more easily day after day. "Because Morgause did."

Will felt his heart drop with his grin.

'_No, no, no._'

"Do we, then," Will continued, taking a deep breath. "Assume from that statement that you intend to accept Morgana's proposed alliance?"

The blond felt his breath catch in his throat. He hadn't really meant to imply that, but the connection was convenient. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't been thinking about it. He'd come so far, could he really take the last step? Sever the last tie? Because if he did accept the alliance, reconciliation was out of the question. It all came down to this one thing.

"What is it that you want, Arthur?"

The question caught him off guard, but he'd been asking himself the same thing for days on end. What was it that he wanted? He wasn't sure anymore.

The silence that ensued was more telling than any amount of lies Arthur could have spewed.

Will smirked. Evidently there was something remaining here. Despite the fact that the relationship should have been over, something was sticking in the minds of both of these men. They wanted each other. They _needed _each other. And that wasn't necessarily sexual or romantic, though it had come out in that way. It seemed to Will, at that time, that Arthur had only acted in reaction to the letter his father had sent him. But, in some last-ditch attempt to retain something, some _connection_, he'd ended up in a lip-lock with the man he called 'friend'.

That much was clear. Whether it really could develop further was anyone's guess. These two men had made it quite clear, before anything had happened, that they were both strictly heterosexual. They could have been lying, there could have been something waiting all this time to come out. But somehow, as Will looked at the handsome blond sitting on the screen in front of him, he didn't think that likely. It was highly likely that they'd continue to stay away from one another, rejecting any existing attraction for normality.

But maybe they wouldn't. Maybe Arthur would keep holding on. Maybe Merlin would too.

Either way, it was going to make for some interesting television.

* * *

><p>Gwen didn't feel at all good when she woke up the next day. She told herself that there was still hope; that Morgause might surprise them. But, despite her usual cheery disposition, she couldn't bring herself to believe it. This week wouldn't end well for the Offbeat clique. She knew it. Freya knew it. And, deep down, Merlin knew it too.<p>

"Guinevere?" She looked up at the sound of her name being called. Merlin's bed was empty, but that wasn't such a strange occurrence. Instead, Lancelot was sitting up in his bed, she smiled.

"Good morning."

He nodded. "Good morning. How are you feeling?"

She shrugged and beamed back at him. "I'll be fine, nothing I can't handle."

"You don't have to pretend, Gwen." His sincerity cut through her fake smile with ease. He saw right through her and that was something that bothered her frequently. But it was hard to stay angry at him when he was just so _nice_.

"Don't worry about me, Lancelot." She smiled weakly this time.

"If I don't, who else will?"

Guinevere felt herself shiver under his smouldering gaze. He was so nice to her, too nice. She knew that he liked her; had flirted casually with him, but – despite everything that had happened – Arthur still wasn't completely off her radar. She knew it was stupid and wimpy, but he really was the man of her dreams. It wasn't just his appearance, no; it was the power he exuded. That was the real turn-on for her. Still, it wouldn't do well to completely shoot down Lancelot's advances. Besides, Arthur was completely out of the question now. At least, that was what she told herself.

"You're too kind."

* * *

><p>Habit and nerves had woken Merlin early. Staying in bed and trying to fall asleep wasn't an option, it seemed only natural for him to get up and leave. He only realised his mistake and the risk he was taking when he entered the room.<p>

It was empty.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Relief? No, perhaps it was disappointment. It seemed that a figure on the couch was missing, or by the fridge or at the kitchen counter. Merlin scowled. He couldn't think like that anymore. It was wrong to have ever allowed himself to think in such a way at all. He had to get over it already.

He took a deep breath and padded back into his room to collect his sketchbook, careful not to wake his roommates. He'd noticed them become closer over the last few days. Lancelot had been a godsend in regards to comforting Guinevere. He was patient and selfless; willing to help at the drop of a hat. Merlin just hoped he didn't get hurt in the process. He didn't want Gwen to turn into Arthur.

Still, there was nothing he could do right now. He picked up his sketchbook and pencil case before retreating to the living room.

It'd been too long since he'd last drawn, but his mind had been preoccupied. He'd done some stupid stuff when spending time with Arthur, had done some quick sketches of some of the blond's sillier faces. He flipped past those pages quickly before stopping abruptly.

There was one picture, just a small thing, only in pencil; he'd penned it quickly when he thought the blond wasn't looking. In between the funny faces he was pulling at the film they were watching, he'd switched to something entirely different. His expression had softened, his grin falling to a very slight smile. For a second Merlin wondered if he was seeing sadness in Arthur's bright blue eyes. But that wasn't what had stopped him in his tracks. For just thirty seconds, the blond exuded a softness that Merlin had never seen in him before. He'd quickly got it down and had intended to finish it at some point.

And then everything had changed.

Something stung in the corner of his eyes; he blinked it away and quickly turned to a blank page. He took another deep breath.

Feeling his pencil against paper in itself was a relief. It was like therapy for him; it calmed him; it felt like home. He felt himself begin to relax and just let the pencil flow across the pad. Merlin smiled and sighed dreamily.

A few moments later, he opened his eyes. The calm sensation slipped with unnerving speed as he recognised the strong, masculine jaw, the soft crinkled eyes and slightly upturned mouth. He felt himself unwillingly shiver. It seemed that his subconscious was not so ready to forget Arthur as he was. He scowled and ripped out the page. It soon found its home in a nearby bin.

* * *

><p>Arthur felt his heart drop when he heard the knock on his door.<p>

"Come in." He yelled half-heartedly and, this time, was not at all surprised when his sister entered.

She grinned. "It's me~!"

The blond scowled. "I can see that."

"No need to be snappy." Her grin dropped. "I just wanted to catch-up quickly."

Arthur turned around. "And why did you feel the need to do that?"

"Well, I just wanted to check that we're still on."

"On?"

"The, uh, alliance?" Her confidence was slipping with every second that passed.

"What made you think we were 'on' at all?"

Morgana paused for a second. "You can't be serious."

The blond turned around to face the dark-haired woman and scowled.

"What is wrong with you?" She snapped.

"The answer is 'no', Morgana. Deal with it." He turned once again to grab another beer from the fridge.

"He'll never forgive you, you know."

Arthur froze. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Then stop acting like an idiot. I'm giving you the perfect opportunity to fulfil your nominations."

"I- I-"

"Morgause will do whatever I tell her to do." Morgana interrupted. "Look, just wait until lunch. Come find me then."

"Morgana, I-"

"Lunchtime, Arthur."

And before he could say anymore, she was gone.

* * *

><p>Lunchtime came quickly, too quickly for Arthur. Not much had changed in the short space it between. It was just crazy how things had changed. Before, he'd been so sure that he had one clear aim. He still wanted to win but, somehow, that passion had died down. He couldn't concentrate anymore, couldn't focus properly and it was frustrating him to no end.<p>

But nothing had changed, why should he want anything different? Why couldn't he just act as before? Before things had been so clear. He would get whatever he wanted by whatever means were available. But he'd allowed himself to be distracted and, in the process, had found something totally unmentionable and, at the same time, undeniably fascinating. And now, now he had to make a decision.

Arthur sighed. He knew he had to go downstairs, otherwise Morgana would come find him. He couldn't avoid her anymore; he shouldn't even be trying. What would his father say if he could see this?

Oh, wait. He could.

Arthur scowled as he descended down the stairs. He could see them waiting in the kitchen for him. They looked up as they heard him. Morgana smiled.

"Good afternoon, dear brother."

God, could she sound anymore condescending?

Morgause frowned. "I trust that you are now ready to speak calmly with us."

"I make no promises." Arthur remarked, as he sat down.

"It all seems very clear to me." Morgana smirked, sliding into a chair beside her brother. "You benefit, we benefit."

The blond took a deep breath. "No deal, Morgana."

There was a brief silence, but Arthur kept his gaze low. He awaited his sister's impending rage.

He didn't get it. The dark-haired woman let out an artificial laugh instead. "You can't be serious."

"Dead serious, Morgana. Surely you realise that by now."

She looked speechless for a second. Unfortunately for Arthur, there were two of them.

"Can you please just think about what you're saying, Pendragon?" Morgause cut in.

"I don't have the time to argue with you." The blond replied with a sigh as he rose. "You have my answer. It's not my fault you wasted your time."

"I know what you're trying to do, Arthur, and it won't work." Morgana tried to reason, as her brother walked away.

"Leave it, Morgana," Her ally hissed loudly into her ear. "He's just a faggot."

Arthur froze. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me," Morgause was getting bolder by the minute; she strode towards the blond with a misguided arrogance. "I called you a fa-"

Morgana heavy-handedly placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Morgause, please-"

"No!" Arthur turned around when the blonde woman began to scream. "He needs to hear it."

"You have no idea," Arthur hissed in reply. "What you are talking about."

Morgause smirked. "You think you're so smart, so _discreet_. Everyone knows what you are, Arthur Pendragon. Everyone knows, they just don't say it."

Arthur could feel his pulse quickening, his blood pounding in his ears. He was too far gone now. "Go on then, say it. Say it, I dare you."

She grinned. "I don't need to. You know what exactly I'm talking about; you and that _Merlin_."

"It's none of your business."

She snorted. "You're a fool, Pendragon. Soon, everyone will see that."

Arthur felt his heart sink as his sister and her bitchy friend sauntered out of the room. He worried briefly that someone else might have heard their very public argument and he was right to do so. But his mind was in turmoil about something quite different now. Somehow he'd allowed himself to become distracted. Somehow, if just for a second, he'd allowed himself to think that some sort of relationship between himself and Merlin was possible. He'd gotten caught up in the little things, the little moments. He'd let himself forget that, above all, Merlin was a man. Just like him.

It couldn't work. It wouldn't work. How had he ever thought otherwise? And now he'd made what could turn out to be the greatest mistake in the entire game. Why had he refused the alliance? Why had he not followed his plan through? He held his head in his hands.

But he had to collect himself. He was a Pendragon, he couldn't give up just yet. He had too much pride. Besides, he was still in power; maybe there was something he could do. But he had to plan this time, making decisions on impulse evidently hadn't worked out. Not when his impulses were so skewed…

He turned to leave and noticed something on the floor. Morgause, or Morgana, had knocked a bin over in the heat of the moment when storming out. A small ball of paper had fallen out and was lying in the middle of the floor.

He should have left things as they were. To a certain extent, he knew what was inside before he even picked it up. But he didn't. Just like how he hadn't betrayed his loyalty to Merlin, even after all bridges seemed to be burned. He opened it.

The faint pencil marks were barely legible, but the sight was so familiar that he recognised it immediately. A smile pulled at his lips, blood rushed to his cheeks. Something akin to warmth rose inside him, but he fought it off. No, he could not allow himself to succumb to it. This didn't change anything; this didn't make things any different. He scrunched the paper into a ball once again.

He looked at the ball in his hands. No, it didn't change anything, didn't cancel out the confusion inside him, but it did represent something that he'd been waiting for.

Hope.

* * *

><p>Later that night, the houseguests gathered in the living room. Tensions had been high since the argument at lunchtime, but nothing else of interest had occurred.<p>

The argument had, however, brought new hope to the hearts of the Off-Beat clique. They had been so sure that the power of Veto would be used in Arthur's favour; Morgana and Morgause had clearly been planning _something_. Whatever it had been, however, it obviously hadn't worked though and now, maybe; just maybe, things would work out in their favour.

It was time to find out. Freya and Gwen to their seats on the red armchairs at the head of the couches, where the rest of the guests sat patiently. Before the silence could become too awkward, the television jumped to life.

"Good evening, houseguests!" The presenter called. "How are we all feeling today?"

A variation of affirmative replies, excluding Morgana and Morgause, were called out.

"Good, now, Morgause, would you please rise."

The blonde woman stood up and smiled falsely. "Good evening."

"Hello, Morgause, how are you feeling."

"I'm feeling just fine, thank you."

"Excellent. Then, are you ready to reveal your decision?"

The blonde nodded curtly. "I am."

"Please, face your housemates and inform them of your decision."

She turned and smirked, not shying away from the nervous blond man sitting on the couch.

"I have decided," She began. "To use the power of Veto…"

Arthur felt his breath hitch.

"On nobody."

* * *

><p>All things considered, Freya was not surprised. She'd heard, loud and clear, the argument from earlier that day. Clearly, there was no chance of an alliance with Arthur, and Morgause was far too stubborn to turn to them now. There was a chance, she had suspected, that Morgana might attempt to make her friend change her mind. If she had tried, Freya was not surprised that it had not worked.<p>

"Are you alright, Freya?" The sound of Merlin's voice interrupted her thought pattern.

"I'm just fine, Merlin."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"We're gonna' get out of this, Freya, I promise."

The dark-haired woman smiled weakly. She wished she could believe it but, at this point, she wasn't sure even Merlin believed what he was saying anymore. There was very little hope now for her, if any at all and it was hard to decide if Merlin's innocence was refreshing or just plain annoying.

It was probably both, but he didn't need to know that. Poor, naïve little Merlin. If only he knew what Arthur had done for him. It certainly wouldn't make up for anything, but that didn't meant it didn't change things at all.

But it wasn't her place it tell. At least, that's what she told herself. Arthur didn't deserve Merlin's gratitude, it was best that he didn't know at all. It was best if things stayed just as they were. It was none of her business anyway.

* * *

><p>Arthur was not surprised. In a strange way, things had gone in his favour. Regardless of the way people voted, the off-beat clique would be a person smaller by the next day. He should be happy; he'd got what he thought he'd wanted. Yes, he should be happy.<p>

But he wasn't. And that one question kept running through his mind.

_What is it that you want?_

He felt no closer to the answer. Everything was so very conflicted. He thought he'd known, he thought that something once unthinkable might be a possibility. No longer. He'd been enlightened to the truth. Things could not be that way between them.

And yet, he still felt that he owed Merlin something. Something that, perhaps now, he was finally ready to give.

* * *

><p>Guinevere had tried to stay calm. She'd held back the tears until the meeting was over at least. That was something to be proud of.<p>

Still, it didn't seem to make much of a difference now from where she knelt in front of the toilet, bile rising in her throat. She tried to slow down her breathing, tried to stop herself from panicking. The pulls of pain in her stomach seemed to settle and, wiping her mouth dry, she rose.

"Are you okay?" She didn't see him come up behind her as she washed her hands and face but, when she turned around, she wasn't surprised to see him standing there.

"I-I'll be okay." She laughed awkwardly.

Lancelot smiled weakly. "You know, I'm always here if you want to talk."

"I… I don't think talking is going to help right now."

"How about some comfort then." He smiled. "You don't have anything to worry about, Guinevere."

She blushed and looked away. "Please, Lancelot, I don't think I can-"

"No, it's true." He took a step towards her. "You have friends here. We will save you."

"I suppose, but…"

"But what?"

Her weak smiled fell. "Either way, we lose this week."

* * *

><p>Merlin slept little that night, which is no surprise at all. He lay in bed, trying not to squirm around too much, for fear he'd wake his roommates. But, with a million questions running through his mind, it was difficult to stay still.<p>

What would he do without one of the girls? They'd be vulnerable, at least, more so than before. But there was nothing he could do now. Every word he'd tried to say in comfort had been complete bullshit. He just couldn't face up to the fact that things were the way they were. He just couldn't believe that he was going to lose someone.

But maybe next week would be better. They had to make some allies first though. They had Gwaine and Elyan now, but that wasn't enough. If they couldn't bring round Morgana and Morgause, everything was lost. Unless they turned… elsewhere.

Merlin scowled to himself. No, they couldn't. They had to retain _some _dignity. Even if it was just for their benefit, they could let themselves depend on someone like _that_.

But what if it was the difference between winning and losing? If that was all he had to do… could he really say no? Would he be able to face the 'what if's afterwards?

It didn't matter. It wasn't even an option anymore. Arthur certainly wasn't going to come looking for an ally in him, even if he wanted him to. To all intensive purposes, it seemed that the blond had completely forgotten his existence. The idea that Arthur could be hurting as much as himself didn't even cross Merlin's mind. Why should he be hurting at all? Merlin was the one who'd lost everything, wasn't he?

"Merlin?" someone hissed his name. He sat up in bed.

Peeking around the door was a familiar dark-haired figure. She slipped inside.

"What's wrong Freya?" He whispered, sliding out of his bed.

"We need to talk." She whispered back, she was shaking visibly; obviously something was seriously bothering her. He'd never seen Freya look this troubled before.

"O-of course." He stuttered as she grabbed his hand with hers and dragged him out of the room, glaring suspiciously at the figures still lying in their beds.

She stopped in the living room, looking over her shoulder, obviously wary of being seen.

"There's something I have to tell you." She hissed.

"What's wrong, Freya?" He frowned. "What's going on?"

"I wasn't going to say anything. And I don't know if this changes anything, but you have to know. You have to know now, in case I'm not, because I might not be-"

"Freya, what's going on?" He'd never heard her say so much in the three weeks they'd spent together.

"I know you don't care anymore, Merlin. But you have to listen to me."

"I'm listening, I'm listening."

The dark-haired woman took a deep breath. "The argument today; I heard it all."

"And? What do I have anything to do with this?"

"Morgana and Morgause wanted an alliance with Arthur. He refused it. Twice."

"And? Freya, I really don't understand what you're trying to say."

Freya looked him in the eye and took a deep breath. "He did it for you, Merlin."

Merlin's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"I heard everything and he didn't say it out loud, but it was obvious."

"I-I…" He turned to leave. "I don't know what you're talking about, Freya."

"Merlin," He felt a hand rest on his shoulder. "Please, I know it doesn't change what he did to you."

"You must have got it wrong, Freya. It's over."

"Merlin, please-"

"No, Freya." He turned around to face her again. "It's over."

"Please." She begged, taking a hold of his shirt. "Listen and just, dear god for one second, _think _Merlin."

He took a deep breath, taking in the panicked look in the girl's eyes. She was serious. She was always serious but, for once, that intense severity was directed at him.

"Do you remember, Merlin, _tell _me you remember what he said at nominations."

"I-I"

"_Why _did he nominate Gwen and I?"

Merlin scowled. "Because he's a prat."

"Merlin, what did he _say_?"

The dark-haired man paused. "He said you were weak."

"And honestly, Merlin, who would you say has been the weakest among us in this competition; you or I?"

He froze. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Because, Merlin, if he really wanted to get rid of the weaklings, why weren't you up there in my place?"

Silence.

"Merlin, it's not over. It was never _over_." She let go of his thin shirt. "Don't abandon something that overwhelming so soon."

* * *

><p>The guests gathered early the next morning in the living room. Grim-faced and melancholy, they sat in silence and awaited the entrance of the presenter. Somehow, it felt like no one was winning this week.<p>

Merlin glanced briefly at the blond man sitting opposite him.

'_Why aren't you happy_?' He glared at him. '_Aren't you getting what you wanted?_'

Arthur met his gaze; it was hard not to feel that man's gaze on him. He felt his breath catch in his throat. It was over. It was over. He told himself it was over. It never should have started. But it didn't seem like it was going to end anytime soon. He looked away; his father would be disappointed at him for thinking such thoughts. That's what he had to keep reminding himself now. If that was what it took, he would do it.

"Good morning houseguests!" The TV turned on abruptly, but no one was upset by the interruption. "It's time for our third eviction."

The blonde on-screen smiled. "Guinevere, Freya, you are both up for eviction. The voting process will now begin. One by one, you will be called to the diary room to cast your vote. Vivian; you're first."

The petite young man pulled her skirt down self-consciously as she stood up to leave. She grinned at Arthur, but he only frowned back. Her smile fell momentarily, before she left.

"Good morning, Vivian. Who would you like to vote to be evicted?"

"Well, this is easy, I vote to evict Gwen."

* * *

><p>Gwen smiled weakly to Lancelot as he left to cast his vote. If all went well, she would be staying; she had the numbers. Still, that was counting on the idea that things would go as she expected. They rarely did in this competition. But, for once, she was right. Of course Lancelot voted in her favour, as well as Elyan, Gwaine and Morgana.<p>

"Merlin, would you please go to the diary room to cast your vote."

He stood up, but he could feel his legs shaking. He kept him gaze down; he could feel a million eyes resting on him. He had no idea what he was going to do. He loved both of them dearly, he couldn't image being without them. But, in the end, the decision had already been made for him. His vote, in many ways, didn't count at all.

"Merlin, who would you like to vote to be evicted?"

He felt himself shudder. "I vote to evict Freya."

* * *

><p>It came as no surprise to Freya when she was evicted just twenty minutes later. She'd seen it coming, just as she'd seen everything else. She offered her clique mates a quick hug, attempting to hold up her weak smile.<p>

"Good luck." She said to Gwen. "And well done."

And then she turned to Merlin. Her smile fell. "Don't forget what I said Merlin."

Picking up her things, she flashed one last grin around the room before shooting a glare at Arthur. He knew what she was saying, could hear her loud and clear. He swallowed loudly as she turned to leave. He allowed himself one glance at the dark-haired man staying uncharacteristically silent and wondered why he felt so very sad. It wasn't him that was losing a third of his team. It wasn't him that was losing a friend. Still, it felt like he'd lost something. He tried to ignore the sensation. Tried to remind himself of the expectations hanging over him like a dark cloud. But even the looming authority of his father didn't seem to be working. There was something, just one more thing, that he had to do.

Maybe then it would really be over.

* * *

><p>"Commiserations Freya!" The presenter said sympathetically as she walked on-stage. Everything was one blur of lights and unfamiliar faces.<p>

"I knew it was coming." She noted bluntly as she sat down.

"I'm not surprised." The blonde opposite her grinned. "You've certainly been one of the most attentive houseguests this season."

"Thank you."

"So, now, it's time for us to talk about your time in the house and review everything that happened."

Freya nodded solemnly.

"Firstly, out of interest, what would you have spent the prize money on?"

"Mostly on school bills." She admitted awkwardly. "But I would also have used it to help support my charity, which supports those suffering from being subject to prejudice due to their sexuality."

"That's interesting! How long have you been running this charity?"

"It was set up by my parents in the 80s; I've been in charge since 2010."

"Congratulations!" The smile on the presenter's face was as fake as Vivian's tits. "So, what are your opinions on your fellow housemates?"

She shrugged. "Some of them were alright, bearable. Others were the complete opposite. But, still, I can't help but feel as though I was a minor character in someone else's story."

"And whose story might that be?"

"I had hoped," Freya began. "That you would be able to tell me that."

The presenter smirked; this girl was a lot more perceptive than she had expected. "You would be right, Freya. Now, I'm sure you've seen it coming, so you won't be surprised, but we do have a small clip to show you."

And as the aforementioned clip unravelled on screen, Freya felt every fragment click in her mind.

* * *

><p>Merlin didn't feel as down as he'd anticipated. Of course he wasn't happy that Freya was gone, but he was happy that the inevitable was finally over. Guinevere and Lancelot seemed to be mourning together, so he was left alone in his room. He took a deep breath; what would happen now? He wasn't sure; that would be dictated by next week's HOH.<p>

But what about what Freya had said? Was she right? Was there something, _anything_, actually left here?

No, of course not. Arthur was the reason Freya was gone, how could she even suggest that things weren't over? How could she ever have thought that the break-down of the friendship between himself and Arthur had actually mattered at all to the blond? He didn't care. He didn't care at all.

A long '_shhhh_' sound resounded around the room. He looked to the door; something had been pushed under it. As he rose to pick it up, a hushed scuttling sound could be heard. On the floor was a piece of paper, it looked pretty abused. Somehow, he couldn't help but feel as though he recognised it. He picked it up and opened it.

His breath caught.

A familiar sketch, albeit fainter, was etched on the back. He felt himself blush and he turned the paper over. In beautiful black calligraphy were two words.

'_I'm sorry_'

Nothing else; no explanation; no real tangible sign of who had sent it. But he exactly knew who it was.

This didn't change anything; this didn't make things any different. He scrunched the paper into a ball as he had many days earlier.

He looked at the ball in his hands. No, it didn't change anything, didn't cancel out the confusion inside him, but it did represent something that he felt he'd been waiting for.

Hope.

* * *

><p><strong> I've seen a recent surge in readers and, once again, I thank you all. You really are what keeps me going and this story, for sure, is my favourite. I love writing it and I don't put it off on purpose. I hope that the longer chapters make up for the long gaps.<strong>

** Please keep hope for me! The nagging really does help! Any questions for me or any of the characters? Send them in!**

** Thank you so much!**


	10. Day Twenty Three

**I'm so sorry; I'm really awful, aren't I? It's been a year; a whole year since I updated this fic. In a way, it feels like it's been a whole lot longer than that. I've been awfully busy, I promise you and, as I have alluded to in earlier chapters; I've been writing a lot more original work. Honestly, I never thought I'd finish '**_**Big Brother**_**', but the outcry from you all of late has changed that.**

**In a few days, my exams end, then I will have a few months of free time before I go to University. I am going to try to give you as much as I can in that time; maybe I'll even finish this.**

**You guys have really been amazing; I've seen loads of you recommend this fic on Facebook and Tumblr. I really appreciate it; it makes me very happy. This year I turn 18 and it seems mental to me that you guys love this fic which I started when I was 15, but I'm very happy that you do. As a warning, however, I should warn that my writing style has changed and (hopefully) improved since I started writing fanfiction. Of course, I shall endeavour for as much consistency as possible; I'm just terrified of disappointing you all!**

**The reason this chapter is so short is that I want to garner some sort of response. I've always hated writers who demand reviews from their readers; I will never do that. All I ask is some indication that you would like to see this fic finished, if that is what you want.**

* * *

><p>When Merlin wakes it feels like he's been through hell. It seems his body knows that he's fucked up; that he's done something wrong. Everything aches. Everything.<p>

He vaguely considers not getting up. Just ending it all and quitting. He imagines the producers having to carry out his despondent body, too stubborn to get up and leave of his own accord. It's a tempting option, but an impossible one. To give up now would be disrespectful to Freya, disrespectful to everyone who had applied for the competition. And, besides, he needs this; he needs that money. Giving up was not an option.

He tosses and turns; just a week ago he would have got up, would have gone into the kitchen. Who knows who he would have met there.

The memories force him to cringe now; he covers he face in the pillow with a low groan. He tried not to think about it, because he knew where it went. Some great big cavern labelled 'Merlin's Sexuality', and he wasn't ready to fall in.

* * *

><p>When Arthur wakes he's dreamt of Merlin, again. It's that flicker of a glance as they watched the sunset. It's his porcelain skin and his cheekbones and his stupidly large ears. It has become both a dream and a nightmare to him.<p>

He vaguely considers not getting up. But that would mean not seeing Merlin again and he quickly jumps out of bed. He wanted to solve things, that was true, if only to stop this suffocating tension every time they so much as stood in the same room. What 'solving' meant, he wasn't quite sure yet, but he knew he'd figure it out along the way.

* * *

><p>Before anything interesting can happen between our housemates, they are gathered together in the living room for an announcement. They sit in silence, still shocked and raw from the previous night. Luckily, the TV soon jumps to life.<p>

"Good morning houseguests!"

They groan in some sort of half-ass reply.

"I have a very important announcement for every. Single. One of you." She punctuates her utterance with unnecessary pauses to try and ramp up the tension, but most of them couldn't care less at this point. The producers would probably be more bothered by this, if it wasn't for the fact that 90% of the audience was now watching for Merlin and Arthur and them alone.

"As you well know," She begins, unaware of the impatience of her audience. "Up until this point you have being playing as teams, or cliques. Well…"

She pauses to take a breath, but we all know what's coming already.

"No more. You are now, all, individuals." There were a few gasps, but not many. "You will vote as individuals and you will be eliminated as individuals."

Merlin's eyes flicker to meet Gwen's; his sole surviving teammate. Well, not anymore. In a way, he supposed it was a good thing; it would make their alliance with Lancelot, Gwaine and Elyan easier to maintain. Then again …

He felt a swooping in his stomach. This change also made it so much easier to betray alliances; now, he truly could trust no one.

* * *

><p>They disperse quickly after the message is conveyed. Almost immediately after the television shuts down, they start calling houseguests into the diary room. Arthur is summoned first. He leaves quickly; he seems to understand that he's the elephant in the room.<p>

"Good morning, Arthur." The voice behind the camera is new; female, lighter. Arthur's not sure if he should be concerned or comforted by this.

He's too dazed to reply, so she carries on regardless.

"Are you glad to no longer be part of a team, Arthur?"

His reaction is a slow, sluggish shrug. "I guess."

"Will you be keeping any of your former alliances?"

"I doubt it."

"Why not?"

The conversation continued with Arthur giving the minimum responses possible and, pretty soon, the voice got the clue. He wasn't up for talking, so he was told to leave and the next houseguest was called. He was too caught up in his own thoughts to hear the name, all he saw was the dark hair and blue eyes walking down the corridor. Somehow his legs kept moving as he walked past the cold and distant man. He tried, once again, to catch his eye and, once again, failed miserably. And as they passed each other, perhaps by accident or perhaps quite deliberately, their shoulders bumped against one another.

Merlin jerked back like he'd touched fire and gave Arthur a withering glare before scuttling away.

* * *

><p>Merlin was pissed off. The day before he'd caught a glimpse of acceptance, moving on maybe, but he'd woken up with those feelings entirely gone and replaced by newer, rawer emotions. All he knew for certain was that he wanted to rip the eyes from Arthur's head. He wanted to tear the man limb from limb. He wanted to hurt him and he wanted to hurt him <strong>bad<strong>.

He'd never felt so angry at someone before, he'd never been great at maintaining grudges either. But this one… this one certainly wasn't going anywhere fast.

He finished up in the diary room as quick as he could and hurried back to his room, doing his best not to look out for the blonde-haired blue-eyed nuisance as he went.

* * *

><p>The house was oddly quiet, oddly void of the usual bragging and nerves too. Everything felt strange and new. They were all just trying to get used to the new atmosphere. But they didn't have much time, because, before the day was out, a new head of house had to be picked.<p>

Predictably, just after midday, they were dragged out into the garden, where a rather unusual contraption was waiting for them. It looked like a carousel, but no carousel Merlin had ever seen had seats quite like that. They were small and round, connected to the carousel by a single rope in their centre.

"Good morning, contestants." And there was the blonde again. "It's time to pick a new head of household and, guess what? You're all graduating!"

A few scattered laughs; but nothing resembling sincerity.

"Each of you will take a seat on the carousel; the winner is the last man, or woman, standing." She smirked. "But it won't be as easy as it sounds, you'll see what I mean. Arthur, as current HOH, you cannot participate."

Arthur nodded silently, lips pressed tightly together. He sluggishly made his way to the benches on the sidelines; eyes intently following the expression of a single figure.

"Contestants; take your seats!"

Merlin followed his friends towards the carousel. Each house member awkwardly slid onto a seat; clumsily slipping as they held onto the rope for dear life. All around they could hear the cameras moving; recording every embarrassing moment.

"The contest starts … now!"

On her final word, the carousel lethargically came to life. Slowly, it began to spin, smoothly at first, but then the pace started to pick up. Merlin tightened his grip on the rope; trying to distract himself from the squeals and groans coming from around him. It didn't work.

Someone screamed; he looked up for an explanation and was then hit square in the face by an ice cold spurt of water.

"Fuck!" He spluttered; his own curses followed by the curses of the other housemates. He felt his grip start to weaken; water making his hands less solid.

His eyes met Arthur's. He held on with all his might.

After 21 minutes, Vivian dropped from her seat.

"Shit." The blonde cursed and stomped away; there were a few snickers, but not many. Before they knew it, Morgause had dropped too. She made less noise than her friend.

Then the real competition began. The water becomes colder, if that were possible, and the spurts more frequent. But it gets worse; as he spins around, Merlin is winded by a blunt '_whack_'. He cries out and looks back as the carousel carries him away; it's a man-sized diploma.

He groans. '_Fucking producers._'

The grunts that follow tell him he's not the only one to feel it. A few minutes later; Gwen falls. She smiles weakly to Merlin as she walks away.

It gets worse; the carousel starts to spin quicker. Merlin wonders briefly is he is going to throw up or fall or faint or all of the above. But he can feel those eyes burning into his shirt and he clings on tighter.

Morgana falls next; then Elyan. Merlin takes a quick look around; he's left facing off with Gwaine and Lancelot. It seems impossible that he could ever hope to beat either of them in a physical challenge, but he wants to try.

He couldn't afford to lose this; couldn't afford to have anyone but himself in that head of household room. He wasn't going to trust anyone but himself.

To his credit, Merlin lasts a long while. Arthur's eyes flicker back in a panic between his friend and the clock. Two hours since they started and Merlin's still hanging on. The housemates start to filter back into the house, but Arthur stays.

He'd never thought of Merlin as being particularly strong, never seen the endurance the man was currently displaying. He grinned; a pleasant surprise, indeed. But Merlin wouldn't win it; he knew that, Merlin probably knew that. And thank god; there's no way he'd get through nominations with Merlin as HOH.

After 2 hours and 22 minutes, Merlin drops. It was an accident really; he went to adjust his seating position and slipped on the water. He slumps on the ground for a few moments, before picking himself up. When he looks up, only Arthur is there; always with the eyes. The towels are right beside the blond; but Merlin's disdain for the man is only worsened by his sopping clothes and freezing skin. He turns away and exits through the adjacent French doors. He doesn't see Arthur's face as he leaves.

* * *

><p>Before either Lancelot or Gwaine can give up, Arthur is called to the diary room. He's reluctant to leave the competition; eager to get on the good side of whoever wins, but he doesn't really have a choice.<p>

"Good afternoon, Arthur." He hears a smile in the voice. "Can you give us your take on the competition?"

The blond sighs. "It looks tough, I'm glad I don't have to do it."

"How do you think everyone did?"

He shrugs. "I'm not surprised about who dropped early."

"And what are you surprised by?"

"If you want me to talk about Merlin , I'm not going to."

Pause. Arthur smirks; they obviously don't know what to do about that. His feelings towards Merlin had certainly softened; but he wasn't going to play this game anymore. His sexuality was not going to be a play for ratings; things had gone far enough already.

"Fine, you may leave."

* * *

><p>When Arthur returns, Lancelot has won. But before anyone gets the chance to congratulate the new Head of House; he's already gone to shower. Arthur is too pleased to care; Lancelot had always been easy to get on with, he was fair too. No doubt he'd be nominating the people who really deserved it.<p>

Which could still be him, he mused. There were still definitely some ill feelings over his week as HOH. He'd have to build some bridges.

* * *

><p>Merlin was in the kitchen when the news broke. He was happy, that was true. Things really couldn't have worked out better for him. But, somehow, everything was muted by this issue with Arthur; nothing seemed quite so good without him around.<p>

This was ridiculous; why did he feel like this? It was a questioned he'd asked himself nearly every day and, each time, the answer was wildly different. He didn't know anymore. He was embarrassed, he was sad, he was angry, he was sorry, he was forgiving and he was ruthless. Everything at once and, equally, nothing at all. Too distracted by contradicting feelings; he found that he could come to no conclusion.

He just had to stay focused; that what he kept telling himself. As Gwen bounded towards Lancelot for a hug; he forced a smile.

* * *

><p>Lancelot calls Arthur into his room that evening. The blond is surprised at his friend's impatience, but follows him upstairs anyway. An awkward silence fills the room until they sit down.<p>

"Look," Lancelot began with a sigh. "I don't like gossip and I don't like lying; so I'm going to tell you the truth."

Arthur nodded.

"You fucked up bad. You messed things up with Gwen and you _really_ messed things up with Merlin." He paused. "But I don't think you're a bad guy, Arthur. I think you're keeping a lot to yourself, but I think that's to protect yourself, not to harm anyone else."

He pressed his lips together tightly.

"I don't want to put you up this week; I don't. But if you're going to pose a threat to my friends; I will." Lancelot paused for emphasis. "So, tell me, what exactly are you going to do?"

* * *

><p>Gwen spent the night in Lancelot's HOH room. Merlin's bedroom felt cold and silent without her, but he didn't interfere. He wasn't quite sure if it was just circumstantial, convenient or if she'd felt this way all along; probably a combination of the three. But if she was happy; he was happy.<p>

Or as close to happy as he could be.

He didn't see anything; just heard the door when it closed. He sat up in bed and, practically simultaneously, the lights turned on.

"We need to talk."


End file.
